Tenaris employees, elected officials celebrate restart of Conroe plant
HOUSTON -- Tenaris employees, executives and elected officials gathered at Tenaris’s plant in Conroe, Texas, Friday, Oct.19, to celebrate its reactivation following a three-year suspension of operations.
“I want to thank our employees, many of whom have returned to the plant and those who are new to Tenaris, for their dedication to completing a safe, and successful, start-up,” said Luca Zanotti, Tenaris' president. “Our Conroe facility is playing an important role in the resurgence of U.S. manufacturing.”
U.S. Congressman Kevin Brady, Texas Senator Brandon Creighton, Conroe Mayor Toby Powell and community members joined the more than 100 employees at the plant to recognize their contribution to the restart.
“I want to congratulate Tenaris leaders and workers for the reopening of this facility after three years,” said U.S. Congressman Kevin Brady. “Thanks to tax reform and the rolling back of regulations, the American economy is booming and we’re seeing this success story repeated across the country. But it’s extra special when families right here in the Eight Congressional District of Texas are impacted in such a positive way. I look forward to continuing my work on their behalf and with the Trump administration to ensure the progress we’ve seen so far is just the beginning.”
The Conroe mill is now heat treating and finishing pipe from Tenaris’s mill in Bay City, Texas, to support the ramp up of domestic production. Tenaris invested approximately $7 million to ready the plant for operations, including safety, training, equipment and systems upgrades.
“I’m very excited to have Tenaris back in Conroe. It’s very telling how much the company values their employees by the way they rehired and reinvested in our community as soon as they could,” said Texas Senator Brandon Creighton. “The story of Tenaris is just like many others across our State and nation because of President Trump’s vision and his America-first policies. I’m working hard in Austin to make sure we maintain a great business climate to allow stories like this to continue. Texas manufacturing FIRST.”
Production at Conroe was temporarily stopped in 2015 due to record levels of unfairly traded oil country tubular goods (OCTG) imports and the collapse of the oil and gas market. In June, Tenaris announced it would restart specific manufacturing processes at the Conroe mill as a result of improved market conditions and actions by the U.S. government in support of domestic manufacturing.
