Japanese steel tubes and pipes producer Sumitomo Metal Industries (Sumitomo Metals) has announced that its subsidiaries Amagasaki-based Steel Tube Works and Wakayama Steel Works, both of which form part of Sumitomo Pipe & Tube Company, have completed production capacity expansions for high-end seamless pipes. The operations began at the end of June 2008.
As a result of the expansion works, the combined production capacity of the two subsidiaries for seamless pipes has been increased by nine percent to 100,000 mt, particularly for high-margin, distinctive "super" high-end products such as super high-alloy and 13 percent Cr OCTG (Oil Country Tubular Goods) pipe.
The investment, which worth Yen 35 billion (approx. $327.6 million), is in line with Sumitomo Metals' medium-term business objectives to accelerate its global development and distinctiveness in the steel and pipe business.