Tenaris adds capacity downstream from Pennsylvania EAF mill

Luxembourg-based steel and steel products maker Tenaris plans to restart heat treatment and finishing operations at its Koppel, Pennsylvania, manufacturing facility, saying the move reinforces its commitment to supply domestically produced steel pipes for the United States energy sector.

The steel finishing operations are located downstream from the firm’s recycled electric arc furnace (EAF) in Koppel, and the announcement follows what Tenaris calls a sizable investment in its U.S. production footprint.

“Reopening the heat treatment and finishing lines in Koppel reinforces the strength of our domestic production capabilities for our customers across the U.S.,” Tenaris US President Guillermo Moreno says. “Koppel remains a cornerstone of our US operations, allowing us to deliver high-quality steel products that support US energy and industrial needs."

Tenaris operates an integrated steel pipe manufacturing system in Pennsylvania and Ohio.

In Koppel, steel billets are produced in an EAF. Those billets are sent to a Tenaris facility in Ambridge, Pennsylvania, to be rolled into seamless oil country tubular goods for the energy sector. The pipes return to Koppel to be heat-treated, tested and inspected, and in the final stage at its Brookfield, Ohio, facility, the pipes are threaded and undergo another inspection before being shipped to customers.

Tenaris says it has invested more than $150 million in its Koppel melt shop, including an $85 million exhaust system upgrade completed and the purchase of a Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania, scrap processing yard from Orange, California-based SA Recycling.

The acquisition was made by Steel Recycling Services, a Tenaris subsidiary, and Tenaris says the move was carried out to streamline and optimize its production process in the U.S.