Oregon Steel Mills Idles Mill

Oregon Steel Mills, Inc. announced that it is indefinitely idling its Napa, Calif., pipe mill starting this month.

Jim Declusin, Oregon Steel’s CEO, stated, "In this tight steel market we do not believe the operating margin opportunities in large-diameter pipe justify the allocation of steel plate from our Portland, Oregon, plate mill for conversion into large-diameter pipe. We feel that, at the present time, the best economic decision for the company is to direct production from the Portland mill to support our plate and coil customers, our structural tubing operation and our Canadian line-pipe business, majority-owned Camrose Pipe Company."

Camrose Pipe Co. has two pipe manufacturing mills, a large-diameter pipe mill similar to the Napa Mill and an ERW pipe mill, both located in Camrose, Alberta. Production at the Napa Mill will be phased out starting June 28, and is expected to be complete next month.

The company also said that it expects its income to top previous forecasts. Last month the company forecasted second-quarter net income within a range of $1.00 to $1.20 per share. Oregon Steel now anticipates second-quarter net income from continuing operations will meet or exceed $1.20 per share.