IN 2011 TUBACEX HAS MADE INVESTMENTS AMOUNTING TO 19.30 MILLION EUROS
Throughout 2011, TUBACEX has deployed investments in technical facilities and machinery amounting to 19.30 million euros, especially those seeking the development of production capacity in those segments requiring a higher level of expertise and added value within the oil, gas and power generation industries, such as the exploration and extraction of oil and gas in extreme conditions (offshore and deep water extraction) and power generation in state-of-the-art plants.
In the 2001-2011 period, the TUBACEX Group invested a total of 201 million euros in extending and improving its factory facilities, a figure which means an average annual investment of approximately 18 million euros. Between 2007 and 2011 the investments, basically linked to the implementation of the Strategic Plan, have amounted to 132.67 million euros, almost 26.53 million euros per annum.
Manufacturing and sale of the first orders of umbilical offshore tubes in the new facilities of the Group at Ternitz in Austria, a project in which TUBACEX has allocated around 40 million euros, has started this year. Umbilical offshore tubes are used for controlling equipment on the seabed and for the injection of fluids or corrosion inhibitors.
Moreover, the implementation of a new hot tube extrusion mill at Ternitz, which complements the current one, feeding into the cold tube rollers for umbilicals, and producing small-diameter hot tubes in special alloys, has been completed.
The Group’s industrial facilities in Alava have also undergone a substantial development with investments for the improvement of the product mix. As a result of the significant increase in the demand for oil and gas exploration and extraction tubes, the company has decided to boost the production capacity at the Amurrio plant with a new rolling mill for OCTG tubes.
Moreover, the U.S. subsidiary, Salem Tube, has invested €4.55 million euros to incorporate an ultrasound control machine and to expand its finishing facilities in order to strengthen product quality assurance and to improve the U.S. subsidiary’s position in high value-added niches, such as the aeronautics and nuclear industries.
The remaining investments are allocated towards diverse improvements linked to the efficiency of the key facilities in the manufacturing process of the different factories, to the maintenance and replacement of industrial equipment, quality improvement, and raising the added value of products and environmental care.