March 3, 2008 -- POSCO, the world's fourth-largest steelmaker, said Sunday it has broken ground in California for a plant that will produce up to 270,000 metric tons of steel pipes annually for transporting gas and petroleum. The $129 million joint project -- spearheaded by POSCO; SeAH Steel, South Korea's leading steel pipemaker; and US Steel, America's largest steel producer -- to make American Petroleum Institute (API)-certified steel pipes is to be completed by April next year, and will be fully operational by the following year, a POSCO spokesman said.
The trilateral project is the second-largest of such ventures in California, following USS-POSCO Industries, a joint venture between POSCO and US Steel that was established in 1986 to produce cold-rolled and galvanized steel. POSCO and US Steel each have a 35 percent stake in the new mill, known as the "United Spiral Pipe, LLC," while SeAH holds the remaining 30 percent. It will be located in the town of Pittsburg, east of San Francisco Bay. The new plant will produce steel pipes for pipelines, in accord with American Petroleum Institute specifications, with a thickness of up to 25.4 millimeters and diameters varying between 61 centimeters and 162.5 millimeters. Most of the products will be sold within the United States and Canada, POSCO said.
Source: AMT
