Local Ipsco plant in running for expansion project
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SSAB, the parent company of Ipsco Inc., has announced it will invest between $150 million to $250 million to construct a new heat treating line at either its Montpelier, Iowa, plant or its Mobile, Ala., plant.
The Sweden-based SSAB, which acquired Ipsco last summer, recently announced the investment as part of its strategy to increase steel capacity in the United States.
David Britten, Ipsco’s senior vice president-steel, said the company hopes to make a final decision this year. The expansion would generate about 100 new jobs at the plant. In addition, the project would include a new building that would create construction jobs.
The new facility will process steel produced at the company’s plants. Heat-treated steel plate is used throughout the manufacturing and construction sectors. Britten said the steel is a stronger steel, but can be produced at a lighter weight.
“This is a step to further meet the strong and increasing global demand for quenched and tempered steels,” Olof Faxander, SSAB’s chief executive officer, said in a news release. “The investment enables us to continue to develop the strong production base we now have in the U.S.”
Britten said the company plans to choose between the locations this year. It will be weighing many issues, including the regulatory environments of both communities, costs, as well as freight or supply chain issues.
It is not the first time the two plants have been in competition for a capital improvements project. The Mobile plant “ended up being the winner” when Ipsco built a $45 million heat-treating line, he said.
“Montpelier has one advantage up on Alabama,” this time, he said, referring to new equipment installed there in 2006. “It pulls the hydrogen out of the steel and makes it cleaner.”
Jennifer DeWitt can be contacted at (563) 383-2318 or jdewitt@qctimes.com.
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