Zekelman Industries is nearing completion of its facility constructed to produce a range of galvanized tubular products for the electrical, fence, solar tracker and solar foundation markets. Located just west of Chicago in Rochelle, Ill., it includes four in-line galvanizing tube mills with capacity to exceed 300,000 tons annually and an automated hot-dip galvanizing line capable of production in excess of 100,000 tons annually. The facility will support Wheatland Tube, Western Tube and Picoma customers. Full operations are set to commence in January of 2023. Zekelman Industries plans to hire 150 employees by December 2022.

Atlas Tube, a division of Zekelman Industries, opened its newest steel mill in Blytheville, Ark. The company’s second in Blytheville, it will be dedicated to producing jumbo hollow structural sections (HSS) as large as 28 inches OD with walls up to 1 inch thick. According to Atlas Tube, the $150 million project is the largest private investment in the U.S. steel industry in the last decade. It is expected to create over 75 new jobs. The company says the 515,000-square-foot facility will be the largest continuous electric resistance welding (ERW) mill in the world, rolling HSS from 8 to 22 inches square. 

Sandvik Materials Technology received an order for nuclear tubes and pipes from a low-carbon energy company for the development of nuclear power stations in the United Kingdom. Sandvik will supply nuclear tubes and pipes in 29 dimensions in grade 3R65, a molybdenum-alloyed austenitic stainless chromium-nickel steel with a low carbon content. The tubes will be mainly used to connect different systems close to the second reactor at the Hinkley Point C power station in Bristol, England.

Bull Moose Tube Co. (BMT), a Caparo Bull Moose subsidiary, announced plans to build a 350,000-ton-per-year pipe and tube mill on Steel Dynamics’ new Sinton, Texas, flat-rolled campus. The facility will produce sprinkler pipe and hollow structural sections (HSS) using steel from SDI’s plant. According to BMT, the mill will make product ranging in size from 4 to 14 inches square, 5 to 18 inches round, up to 80 feet long and thicknesses ranging from .187 to .750 inch. It will also expand BMT’s geographic footprint and allow the company to better serve customers in the Southwest, West Coast and Mexico markets. Company officials said they anticipate an early 2023 mill start-up.

Zekelman Industries announced the completion of exterior building work on its new mill in Blytheville, Ark., constructed for its Atlas Tube division. Foundation work has begun, and the mill is scheduled to start rolling in September 2021. Located next to one of Atlas Tube’s existing mills, the company says the 515,000-square-foot facility will be the largest continuous electric resistance welding (ERW) mill in the world, rolling HSS from 8 to 22 inches square. Rounds will be available up to 28 inches OD and rectangles up to 34 x 10 inches, with wall thicknesses up to 1 inch.

Nucor Corp. will build a new tube mill on the site of its Nucor Steel Gallatin sheet mill in Kentucky. This location will allow the company to take advantage of investments made to expand capacity of the Gallatin mill and add a galvanizing line. The $164 million project is expected to be in operation by the middle of 2023 and create more than 70 new full-time jobs. The tube mill will have the capacity to produce approximately 250,000 tons annually of hollow structural section (HSS) steel tubing, mechanical steel tubing and galvanized solar torque tube. The Gallatin County site puts the facility near expanding solar markets in the United States and the largest consuming regions for HSS steel tubing.

SMS group supplied a high-frequency tube welding line to Spain’s Bornay SL. The tube welding line enables Bornay to produce high-quality tubes with round, square or rectangular cross sections and yield points up to 1,200 MPa. It can produce tubes with diameters of 10-40 mm and wall thicknesses up to 4.5 mm. Tubes with square cross sections are manufactured in dimensions up to 30 x 30 mm and rectangular products in dimensions up to 40 x 20 mm with wall thicknesses up to 4 mm.

TMK’s Seversky Pipe Plant awarded SMS group the final acceptance certificate for a heat-treatment line for tubes and pipes at its Polevskoy site in Russia. The line has an annual capacity of up to 300,000 tons of pipes with diameters between 168 and 370 mm (6.6 and 14.5 inches), a wall thickness of up to 40 mm (1.5 inches) and lengths of up to 13.5 meters (44.3 feet). The line is able to process small batch sizes and different product groups in a cost-efficient manner.

Nova Steel USA Inc. plans to build a 108,000-square-foot tube manufacturing facility in Bowling Green, Ky. The $70 million investment is expected to create 110 full-time jobs in the coming years. The project includes purchase and installation of equipment for precision roll forming, laser cutting, tube bending, fabrication and robotics. According to Nova Steel, the facility will produce a variety of automotive parts used in the production of pickup trucks and SUVs.

According to a report, Phillips Tube Group, a welded-steel tube manufacturer, will invest $8.2 million to expand its manufacturing plant and relocate into the former Matthews International building in Richmond, Ind. The company expects to hire 30 associates by 2024. The Indiana Economic Development Corporation (EDC) offered up to $325,000 in conditional tax credits as an incentive based on the company's hiring. According to the EDC, the investment represents the most technologically advanced machinery and processing equipment in the industry.