Brazilian flats steelmaker Usiminas told SteelOrbis on Wednesday it has supplied a combined 16,000 mt of coils and heavy plates for Argentina’s tube producer Tenaris Siat this week.
Usiminas did not specify how much coil and heavy plates were separately supplied.
The two products are supplied by Usiminas’ Cubatao and Ipatinga mills, and they will be used in the production of tubes with a diameter between 18 and 36 inches for gas exploration in the Fortin Piedra field, in the province of Neuquen, in Argentina.
Usiminas said Tenaris Siat should start producing tubes with the coils and plates provided by the Brazilian steelmaker in September.
Usiminas added that it is the only Latin American steelmaker capable of producing coils of a width superior to 1,900 mm needed to produce 24-inch API tubes of the X70 grade. The company is also the only Latin American producer homologated to produce heavy plate for API tubes of the x70 grade.
The Brazilian steelmaker is upbeat about the prospects arising from the Argentinian energy sector.
“As a result of Argentina’s energy needs, the government has been announcing new projects. We continue following those initiatives to present … the Usiminas steel,” said Hermes Hinuy, account manager for the construction and infrastructure areas at Usiminas.
The Fortin de Piedra field should have about $2.3 billion investments by 2019.