On Friday, Salzburg, Austria-based Benteler Steel/Tube announced that it will build a new hot rolling tube mill in Caddo, Louisiana, growing the company's share of the North American OCTG market. The facility will be Benteler Steel/Tube's first US production facility and will require a $900 million investment.
According a company press release, the decision to site and construct a production site in the US is an important element of Benteler Steel/Tube's global business growth strategy. Currently, more than 25 percent of Benteler Steel/Tube products flow into North America. Matthias Jaeger, president and CEO Benteler Steel/Tube GmbH said, "With the growing demand for high-quality steel tubes for exploratory drilling in the US, and Louisiana's proximity and access to energy customers, Benteler Steel/Tube's Caddo Parish plant is poised to play an important role in meeting US domestic energy needs."
Benteler Steel/Tube is a specialist in the manufacturing and processing of seamless hot-rolled steel tubes and seamless cold-drawn precision steel tubes, serving international customers in the automotive, OCTG/line pipe, heat transfer, hydraulics/precision engineering, and construction sectors.
A memorandum of understanding has been agreed upon between Benteler, the State of Louisiana, Louisiana Economic Development, the North Louisiana Economic Partnership, The Port--Caddo-Bossier, The Red River Waterway Commission and other key community partners in Caddo Parish. Groundbreaking on the new facility is scheduled for the spring of 2013 and completion is planned for the second half of 2015. In the initial phase, Benteler will build a hot rolling tube mill along with several finishing lines for the production of seamless tube solutions.