Benteler Steel/Tube recently started construction on the company’s new hot-rolling seamless steel tube mill in Caddo Parish, La. The $975 million facility will create more than 1,000 construction jobs, numerous indirect jobs with suppliers and service providers to the plant, and an estimated 675 full-time jobs at full production capacity. Construction is on schedule to be completed in late 2014, with operations beginning in the second half of 2015.

The facility will be built in two phases. The first phase is a hot-rolling tube mill, along with several finishing lines, for the production of seamless tubes. Phase 2 includes building an electric-arc furnace for producing high-quality steel. The final finished facility will encompass more than 1.35 million square feet and be capable of producing up to 320,000 tons of steel tubes annually. A new, state-of-the-art training facility is also being built on the campus of Bossier Parish Community College. It features specialized technology equipment and programs designed initially to meet Benteler’s manufacturing needs.