Outokumpu to streamline OSTP

An international stainless steel company with production facilities in 30 countries, Outokumpu has decided to reorganize its Outokumpu Stainless Tubular Products (OSTP) unit in Sweden by transferring the manufacture of similar types of products to a single location. The purpose of the transfer and the investment is to concentrate the production of similar types of tubes at one location and thereby to improve efficiency. OSTP's Nyby unit will install a second integrated production line for welded stainless process tubes. The cost will be Euro 8 million while operations will commence in the third quarter of 2008. The two heat exchange tube production lines in the Fagersta unit will be transferred to Nyby during 2007, while the large diameter tube production line will be transferred from Nyby to Storfors during 2008. The Fagersta unit, on the other hand, is scheduled to be closed in the middle of 2007. The reorganization of the OSTP unit is expected to increase the annual production capacity at the Nyby unit by 50 percent to 30,000 metric tons, and by improving logistics and efficiency in OSTP Sweden, to make the business more competitive.