Tenaris S.A. entered into a definitive agreement to acquire from PAO TMK, a Russian manufacturer of steel pipe, 100% of the shares of its wholly owned U.S. subsidiary IPSCO Tubulars Inc. for $1.2 billion. IPSCO Tubulars is a U.S. domestic producer of seamless and welded OCTG and line pipe products with an annual production capacity of 450,000 metric tons of steel bars, 400,000 metric tons of seamless pipe and 1,000,000 metric tons of welded pipe. The acquisition will add a first U.S. steel bar production facility at Koppel, Pa.; complement Tenaris’ seamless production in Bay City, Texas, with a second facility in Ambridge, Pa.; and bring additional heat-treatment, welding and finishing facilities to better serve customers.

The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) proposed penalties of $1,326,367 to Dowa THT America Inc. – a metal heat-treatment company based in Bowling Green, Ohio – after the company exposed employees to atmospheric, thermal, electrical and mechanical hazards as they performed maintenance inside heat-treating furnaces. In addition to the penalties, OSHA placed the company in the Severe Violator Enforcement Program.

Gestamp, which designs, develops and manufactures highly engineered metal components for the automotive industry, opened a new plant in San Luis Potosí, Mexico. The $86 million facility will be equipped with state-of-the-art machinery for hot stamping and hydroforming for the manufacture of chassis parts. Hot-stamping technology is focused on producing parts that are both lighter and safer, therefore improving energy consumption. Hydroforming technology allows the forming of complex shaped steel using the force of water so they can be integrated into the vehicle’s structural components.

Lindberg/MPH shipped a 2192°F (1200°C) crucible furnace to a company in the energy industry. The furnace can be used for a number of applications and processes, including annealing, ashing, carbon firing, ceramic firing, hardening, melting, metallizing, normalizing, sintering, solution treating and stress relieving. Efficient heating-element design, high-temperature graded insulation and advanced temperature controls combine to deliver dependable, long-life heat sources. The furnace has work-chamber dimensions of 12-inch top opening ID x 18-inch chamber depth.

Messer Group and CVC Capital Partners Fund VII acquired most of the North American gases business of Linde plc and certain Linde and Praxair business activities in South America, launching a new name in the Americas market. With over 70 production facilities and approximately 5,400 employees in five countries (U.S., Canada, Brazil, Colombia and Chile) across North and South America, Messer Americas is one of the largest industrial gas companies in the region. As part of The Messer Group, the company offers over 120 years of proven expertise in the safe and reliable production and delivery of industrial, medical and specialty gases.

L&L Special Furnace Co. Inc. shipped a dual-chamber heat-treating furnace to a southeastern U.S. manufacturer of various items used in the production of heavy equipment and transportation devices. The box furnace will be used to heat treat the tooling used to manufacture these items. Its top chamber, which has an effective work zone of 16 inches wide x 16 inches high x 32 inches deep, is used to harden tool steels. Its bottom chamber, which has an effective work zone of 14 inches wide x 14 inches high x 32 inches deep, is used for tempering, stress relief and preheating.

Danieli will build a new steel plant in Morocco that will produce 800,000 tons per year of billets measuring 5 x 5 inches (130 x 130 mm) to 7.9 x 7.9 inches (200 x 200 mm). The melt shop will include a 100-ton electric-arc furnace (EAF) with the most advanced technological packages: an off-gas laser system, electrode regulation system and an automatic EAF de-slagging door. Danieli Automation will supply a Level 2 process-control system. Plant start-up is scheduled for mid-2020.

OSR Inc., a manufacturer of automotive fasteners, plans to increase its manufacturing production in Columbus, Ind. The company, a joint venture between Japan’s Owari Precise Products Co. and Columbus-based Rightway Fasteners Inc., will invest $7 million to construct and equip a new 82,395-square-foot manufacturing facility. OSR plans to add up to 12 new positions and is hiring immediately for positions in heat treatment and IT. Production is scheduled to increase at the beginning of 2020.

Delta H Technologies will invest more than $300,000 in equipment and add 11 new jobs at its facility in Carroll, Ohio. Delta H Technologies manufactures industrial furnaces and heat-treatment ovens for the aerospace industry. The 11 new jobs will double the company’s current workforce. Fairfield County provided a $20,000 Workforce Development Training Grant to help with new-employee training, and JobsOhio provided a $50,000 performance grant toward the purchase of new machinery.

AFC-Holcroft received multiple orders throughout 2018 for UBQ (universal batch quench) furnaces and companion equipment from Modern Heat Treat, a commercial heat-treating operation in Richland Hills, Texas. The equipment was installed alongside similar equipment already in operation at the facility. Modern Heat Treat benefitted from the modular, flexible UBQ design with the ability to add new equipment incrementally, creating full production cells that utilize existing controls. Individual furnaces can be added to the operation independently, and they can be idled and restarted easily as needed for maintenance service or changes in production.