Vallourec has announced the inauguration of its new Brazilian steel and tube plant at a ceremony attended by Dilma Rousseff, President of Brazil and Antonio Anastasia, Governor of the State of Minas Gerais.
Created under a joint venture agreement with Sumitomo Metals of Japan, Vallourec & Sumitomo Tubos do Brasil (VSB) is 56% owned by Vallourec and 44% owned by Sumitomo Metals and Sumitomo Corp.
Created under a joint venture agreement with Sumitomo Metals of Japan, Vallourec & Sumitomo Tubos do Brasil (VSB) is 56% owned by Vallourec and 44% owned by Sumitomo Metals and Sumitomo Corp.
The construction of the new plant, which began in 2008, is now complete, and production is in the start-up phase. It is an integrated plant, producing steel billets and seamless steel tubes, which benefits from direct access to raw materials provided by two Vallourec subsidiaries, one specializing in iron ore extraction, and the other in charcoal production.
The complex will have two blast furnaces and an electric furnace, a premium tube-making facility and heat treatment, threading and finishing lines. It will employ a workforce of 1600 and will have an annual production capacity of one million metric tonnes of steel (of which 300,000tns for Vallourec’s own, non-VSB requirements), and 600,000 metric tonnes of tubes, of which 300,000tns for Vallourec.