Tenaris commemorates 20 years of steel recycling in Romania

Tenaris, a Luxembourg-based steelmaker with global operations that focus on steel pipe, is commemorating 20 years of operating in Romania, with milestones that include investments, exports and community support initiatives.

Tenaris operates an electric arc furnace (EAF) melt shop in Călăraşi, Romania, that, as of earlier this decade, uses a reported 96 percent ferrous scrap as feedstock.

That facility is part of a wider Romanian presence employing more than 1,900 people involved in downstream operations that include pipe production, rod making steel service centers and commercial offices.

Tenaris also operates scrap collection and processing facilities in Popești Leordeni, Brașov and Iernut, Romania.

“On this solid foundation, the future looks promising for both our presence in Romania and the country’s industrial development, which we are proudly part of,” says Mihaela Popescu, Tenaris area manager for East Europe, the North Sea and sub-Saharan Africa.

“We’ll keep investing and innovating, aligned with our long-term commitment."

The company has been involved in a continuous process of investments in its Romanian plants that exceeds $500 million in spending in 20 years.

Tenaris says it has transformed its Călăraşi EAF melt shop and adjacent Silcotub tube production facility into a "world-class operation" within its global industrial system, not only serving the Romanian oil and gas industry, but also exporting over 97 percent of its production worldwide.

During its two decades in Romania, Tenaris says it has taken environmental protection measures by incorporating best available technologies and optimizing energy consumption, helping to reduce the size of its carbon footprint to be among the 15 lowest-emitting mills in the world.

Throughout Romania, Tenaris says its facilities have a 92 percent landfill diversion rate. The company also is in the process of installing a 20-megawatt solar array in Călăraşi.

On the community relations front, the steelmaker says it has focused on education by investing more than $1 million per year, including by: awarding more than 2,250 high school and university students with scholarships; equipping technical schools; organizing industrial internships, summer camps and training for teachers; offering career counselling to students; and organizing volunteer activities at schools with Tenaris employees.