Vallourec 's new seemless pipe mill in Youngstown, Ohio
The steel industry in Youngstown can trace its roots back to 1802 when the first blast furnace west of the Alleghenies was erected in Poland Township, near Youngstown. It averaged only two tons of iron a day. At its peak in the 1950s, the Mahoning Valley was, by volume, the fourth-largest steel producing region in the United States. But the region’s fortune changed in 1977, known as Black Monday, when Youngstown Sheet and Tube announced it was closing its Campbell Works. Many other mills followed suit and left and the region is still feeling the effects.
Part of Vallourec’s mission is to help improve the economic situation of this city. Partnering with the city and state the company is helping to upgrade the physical surroundings by clearing the area of abandoned buildings and houses and even purchasing adjacent properties and improving them.
From a corporate perspective the plant’s location is key as it is in close proximity to the developing Marcellus and Utica shale regions. “With this new pipe mill, we are able to participate even more actively in the development of shale hydrocarbons in North America,” said Vallource’s Chairman Philippe Crouzet during the opening ceremony.
The company invested $1.05 billion in the plant, which will have an annual production capacity of 350,000 tons of small diameter seamless tubes and will employ 350.
The plant is part of the Vallourec Star’s network which includes operations in Texas and Oklahoma. Together these North American operations constitute 29% of the global corporate revenue.
