<article><p class="lead">Luxembourg-based pipemaker Tenaris has idled a former TMK Ipsco pipe mill in Arkansas shortly after acquiring it.</p><p>The Blytheville welded pipe mill was idled on 30 January by Tenaris, which completed its purchase of TMK Ipsco on 2 January. The mill has a production capacity of 250,000 short tons (st)/yr, according to Tenaris.</p><p>The Blytheville mill is adjacent to Nucor's electric arc furnace-based flat-rolled mill.</p><p>Tenaris said it will keep a minimal crew on site to maintain the mill and will make a decision to reopen the facility should market conditions improve. </p><p>The original decision to conduct layoffs at the facility was made by Russian steelmaker PAO TMK in November, which owned TMK Ipsco at the time.</p><p>The US oil and gas industry has been slowing, with the price of West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil at $53.45/bl on 7 February, down by 8.5pc compared to a year earlier. Last week's active drilling rig count in the US was down by 25pc to 790 from a year earlier, according to Baker Hughes.</p><p class="bylines">By Rye Druzin</p></article>
