Tenaris Algoma Tubes Inc. is two weeks away from announcing a major expansion of its local pipe-making capacity, SooToday has learned.
The announcement of a new welded-pipe line is planned for Thursday, Nov. 12 and is said to be the largest investment Tenaris has ever made in the Sault.
The news has already has been communicated internally to the manufacturer's staff and union officials.
It will expand Tenaris's existing seamless pipe capacity and complement the company's premium pipe-threading line, which is currently under construction and due for completion in January.
The new welded line is expected to share synergies with Tenaris's neighbour and former owner, Algoma Steel Inc.
Algoma halted production at its state-of-the-art seamless-steel pipe manufacturing facility in late 1999.
The following year, the plant was leased to a Canadian affiliate of Siderca SA.
Tenaris, then a sister company to Siderca, bought the tube mill from Algoma in 2003 for $12.5 million.
On July 26, 2019, Sault MP Terry Sheehan announced that Tenaris Algoma Tubes had received $16 million through the federal government’s Strategic Innovation Fund for upgrades to local manufacturering operations.
That money helped pay for the still-under-constriction premium pipe threading line.
Monday, Nov. 2 will mark the 20th anniversary of Tenaris rolling its first pipe in Sault Ste. Marie.