TPT May 2007

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14 May/June 2007
Industry News
Ipsco Inc, USA, will carry out a US$52.5mn
expansion of its Regina large diameter
pipe making facility. In combination with
other current capacity increases, the
company’s large diameter spiral pipe
capacity is expected to increase by two
thirds to 500,000t by early 2008.
The company is a leading low cost
producer of energy tubulars and steel plate
in North America with an annual liquid steel
making capacity of 4.3 million tons. The
company operates four steel mills, eleven
pipe mills, nine product finishing facilities
and nine scrap processing centres in 25
locations across the United States and
Canada.
The Regina expansion will include an
additional pipe forming mill and related
finishing equipment to increase the capacity
and productivity of the existing facility.
The company has also announced the
construction of an OCTG heat treatment
facility adjacent to its Blytheville, Arkansas
pipe mill. The new facility will produce heat
treated OCTG in diameters of 23/8" up to 5 1/2".
Commercial production is expected to begin
at the end of 2007, leading to an additional
annual OCTG capacity of 100,000t.
This large-scale expansion comes on
the back of recent success for Ipsco. The
company is a leader in the production of
large diameter oil and gas transmission
pipe, with technology developed at its
Frontier Pipe Research Unit.
In addition to the supply of all major oil
and natural gas transmission companies,
Ipsco supplied grade 80 linepipe to North
America’s El Paso Cheyenne Plains
Project in 2004, accounting for 306 miles of
pipeline.
Ipsco also supplied grade 100 linepipe
to the TransCanada Stittsville project in
August 2006. Both the steel and pipe for
this cutting edge project were produced
at the company’s facilities. Ipsco has the
capability to produce these advanced
grades of steel from its mills in Regina
(Saskatchewan), Montpelier (Iowa), and
Mobile (Alabama).
As a leader in the North American market,
Ipsco carefully monitors available gas
transmission projects for large diameter
pipe and invests where appropriate. The
company believes that over the next few
years the demand for such pipe will peak,
with short term capacity heavily booked.
The company currently has firm
commitments for over 300,000t of large
diameter linepipe which will require its mills
to operate at capacity through to April 2008.
Beyond that period Ipsco has firm options
on over 500,000t of large diameter linepipe,
which would commit part of its presently
available capacity up to 2010. If available,
the company expects to commit additional
capacity from a proven source within the
current peak cycle.
Ipsco has also announced a 25 per cent
increase in spiral mill capacity through the
installation of a coil preparation line, to
come on-stream in the second half of 2007.
This expansion will add an additional 33 per
cent capacity by early 2008, for a combined
increase of 67 per cent.
Ipsco Inc – USA
Fax: +1 630 810 4600
Website:
Ipsco increases large diameter pipe capacity