Tenaris to Restart Heat-Treatment Line at Steel Mill

Tenaris is planning to restart its heat-treatment and finishing lines at its Koppel, Pa., steel mill to streamline the flow of seamless product at its facilities in the northeast. The heat-treatment line, which had been inactive during the 2020 downturn, gives pipe their required metallurgical properties for enhanced performance in oil and gas wells. It started producing steel in June 2021 following a yearlong investment of more than $15 million.

Tenaris will also invest approximately $3.5 million to perform updates in IT and automation systems, nondestructive testing equipment and maintenance activities to ensure equipment on the line is ready for an April 2022 start. The company is looking to hire about 75 employees to run the heat-treatment and finishing lines, which are located in the melt shop at the Koppel mill.

HarbisonWalker to Convert Alabama Plant into Refractories Manufacturing Hub

HarbisonWalker International (HWI) intends to invest $25 million to convert its closed Fairfield, Ala., plant into an advanced refractories manufacturing, service and distribution hub for southern U.S. steelmakers. Construction will begin during the first quarter of 2022, and the 200,000-square-foot facility is expected to open before the end of the year. The investment will increase refractory capacity and efficiency commensurate with steel customers’ production investments. HWI anticipates hiring 50 highly trained technicians and staff in a team-based environment at the plant.

The proposed new plant, Alabama One (AL1), will produce magnesia-carbon brick refractories specifically engineered to maximize efficiency and performance in critical steelmaking applications like steel ladles and low-emission electric-arc furnaces (EAFs). Initially, production will add approximately 15,000 metric tons annually and ultimately up to 30,000 metric tons as additional equipment is added by 2023. AL1 will include a high degree of robotics automation and technology and utilize lean techniques throughout its processes.

Furnace Manufacturer Offers Ultrasonic Wall-Thickness Testing

Ipsen expanded its field-service capabilities to include ultrasonic wall-thickness testing for vacuum furnaces. The test helps customers verify the integrity of their chamber and determine its remaining lifespan. Vacuum chamber wall-thickness testing is a service provided using an ultrasonic inspection instrument. This nondestructive method requires only the removal of a small amount of paint at each desired test point. Ipsen’s service team works with the engineering department to determine the appropriate thickness for each chamber wall and whether it passes or fails to meet the ASME Pressure Vessel Code. When the test concludes, customers receive a detailed report charting the thickness of the chamber wall across a wide range of areas, as well as maintenance and repair recommendations.

Nucor Selects West Virginia as Site of Sheet Mill

Nucor Corp. will build its new $2.7 billion sheet mill, which will have the capacity to produce 3 million tons of steel annually, in Mason County, W.V. The location on the Ohio River provides Nucor with important transportation and logistics advantages and a strengthened ability to serve customers in the Midwest and Northeast, the two largest sheet-consuming regions in the country. The mill will employ approximately 800 full-time workers when fully operational. Construction is expected to take two years. The mill will be equipped to produce 84-inch sheet products and will include a 76-inch tandem cold mill and two galvanizing lines.

Nichols Portland Acquires Alpha Precision Group

Nichols Portland Inc. of Portland, Maine, acquired the assets of Alpha Precision Group LLC (APG) of St. Marys, Pa. Nichols, a portfolio company of Altus Capital Partners, designs and manufactures powder-metallurgy components for use in automotive and industrial applications. APG is a metal-forming technology company that provides conventional powder metal, high-temperature stainless steel powdered metal, metal injection molding and additive manufactured (3D metal printed) components and assemblies to a global customer base. APG operates five manufacturing plants in Pennsylvania and Michigan.

U.S. Steel Selects Arkansas as Site for Advanced Steelmaking Facility

United States Steel Corp. announced that its next-generation highly sustainable and technologically advanced steel mill will be located in Osceola, Ark., close to the company’s Big River Steel plant. The facility is engineered to bring together the most advanced technology to create the steel mill of the future. The steel production facility is expected to include two electric-arc furnaces (EAFs) with 3 million tons per year of steelmaking capability, an endless casting and rolling line, and advanced finishing capabilities.

Permitting for the $3 billion project is underway and the company expects to break ground in the first quarter of 2022, with project completion and full operation anticipated in 2024. When completed, the new steelmaking facility in combination with Big River Steel will form a 6.3 million ton mega-mill capable of providing many of the most advanced and sustainable steels in North America.

Laser Metal Deposition (LMD) Facility Opens in Texas

Sulzer opened a laser metal deposition (LMD) facility at its Houston Service Center in La Porte, Texas. The advanced additive-manufacturing process will provide multiple benefits for the company’s turbomachinery repair and upgrade projects. Sulzer’s HICoat Division will offer LMD services for a range of materials. According to Sulzer, LMD creates a metallurgical bond that ensures excellent bonding with parent materials and increased consistency of material density, which is ideal for challenging rotor or shaft repairs.

In the past, customers requiring turbine repairs would rely on either thermal spray or submerged-arc welding. LMD fills the gap between these two solutions, allowing Sulzer to overcome traditional limitations regarding processing time, heat input, bond strength and material buildup. The process also reduces dilution and distortion while almost eliminating any requirement for post-weld heat-treatment procedures.

Steel Dynamics Acquires Minority Interest in New Process Steel

Steel Dynamics Inc. completed the acquisition of a 45% minority equity interest in New Process Steel. Houston, Texas-based New Process Steel is a metals solutions and distribution supply-chain management company with a focus toward growing its value-added manufacturing applications. New Process Steel has two manufacturing locations in Mexico and four manufacturing locations in the United States, two of which are located at Steel Dynamics’ Butler and Columbus Flat Roll Steel divisions. The company employs approximately 950 workers and is currently Steel Dynamics largest flat-roll steel customer.