Benteler Steel/Tube breaks ground at $975 million facility in Louisiana

Benteler Steel/Tube has begun construction on a new hot rolling seamless steel tube mill in Caddo Parish, La. — the company's first manufacturing facility in the U.S. The 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.

The facility — representing a total investment of about $975 million — 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 is an electric arc furnace for producing high-quality steel on-site.

When completed in late 2014, the facility will encompass more than 1.35 million sq. ft. and be capable of producing up to 320,000 tons of steel tubes annually. Manufacturing operations are scheduled to begin in the second half of 2015.

A new, state-of-the-art training facility is being built on the campus of Bossier Parish Community College, featuring manufacturing technology equipment and programs designed to help train workers in the manufacturing skills the company requires.