Tenaris idles pipe mill in Arkansas

Luxembourg-based pipemaker Tenaris has idled a former TMK Ipsco pipe mill in Arkansas shortly after acquiring it.

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.

The Blytheville mill is adjacent to Nucor's electric arc furnace-based flat-rolled mill.

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.

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.

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.

By Rye Druzin