Tenaris CEO supports steel tariffs, plots more Texas growth
https://www.chron.com/business/energy/article/Tenaris-CEO-supports-steel-tariffs-plots-more-12881494.phpMay 2, 2018
Steel pipe maker Tenaris will consider expanding its new Bay City pipe mill southwest of Houston and look to grow more in West Texas to take advantage of the shale oil boom and new steel tariffs on imports from overseas competitors, the chairman and chief executive said.
Tenaris, an Argentinian company with roots in Italy, opened its $1.8 billion, state-of-the-art pipe mill in Bay City at the end of last year. The mill, which produces the piping that goes into oil and gas wells, is designed to compete with Asian imports by bringing pipe manufacturing closer to the shale oil boom in West Texas and other regions.
It certainly helps that South Korea - a primary piping competitor - already has agreed to quotas to reduce its steel piping exports to the U.S.
Tenaris also produces a lot of its steel in Argentina, which received a permanent exemption from the tariffs in a deal with the White House, and in Mexico, which is still completing tariff negotiations with the U.S.
"We fee we are very well positioned, and we support this policy," said Tenaris Chairman and CEO Paolo Rocca, who is visiting Houston this week to tour facilities and attend the Offshore Technology Conference. But not all of the details are known yet, he noted....
