Enhancing the value of speciality tubular steels OSTP

ENHANCING THE

VALUE OF SPECIALITY TUBULAR STEELS

OSTP is a market leader in the manufacture of speciality, stainless steel tubular products for the natural resources industry. Philip Yorke spoke to Andrea Gatti, the company’s CEO, about its global restructuring programme, duplex grade products and its major investment in a new production facility in Saudi Arabia.

OSTP is a joint venture between the Outokumpu Group of Finland and Tubinoxia Srl of Italy. Tubinoxia is owned by the family of Mr Andrea Gatti and on 18 January this year increased their shareholding to 51 per cent, thus demonstrating a clear commitment to the strong future that is predicted for the company. Today OSTP is one of the largest and most respected producers of stainless steel tubular products in the world. The company manufactures the widest range of welded and stainless steel products available today. OSTP’s portfolio includes process pipes, butt-weld fittings and threaded fittings, as well as a broad range of process equipment. With 11 major production sites located in Finland, Sweden, Canada, Estonia and Saudi Arabia, OSTP is capable of meeting the increasing global demand for the world’s highest performance, stainless steel products across a broad spectrum of applications.

As an experienced global player, OSTP understands that the demands placed upon its stainless steel products can vary greatly, especially when considering the diverse range of applications and industries that it serves. Furthermore, when it comes to achieving optimal performance, then process industries worldwide need to consider many factors when selecting materials. These include safety, corrosion resistance, strength and ductility, as well as the ease

of welding. OSTP’s stainless steel products meet the challenges of today, whether they are designed for oil rigs, petrochemical projects or a water treatment plant. In addition, the company’s experts offer customers comprehensive selection advice, technical support, shared R&D opportunities and extensive access to its global resources.

Major investments in new plant and technology

OSTP has always been committed to investing in energy-efficient production processes and operating lean management protocols. The company has recently seen the commissioning of its latest, state-of-the-art production facility in the Middle East, which was developed in association with its joint venture partners. This €15 million investment is the first of its kind in the Middle East and is the only facility in the region that produces high-performance stainless steel products, thus serving an expanding, quality conscious market right on its doorstep.

This latest state-of-the-art plant is located in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia and manufactures pipes for the process sector, including the oil and gas industries, as well as for water and wastewater treatment plants. The new facility has production lines capable of welding longitudinal pipes up to 219.1mm OD and 8.2mm in wall thickness. The current output capacity for the Riyadh plant is around 10,000 tonnes per year.

Mr Gatti said, “In order to remain competitive and to be able to offer our customers the best in value and services, we recently embarked upon a major restructuring programme that effectively restricted our plants to strategically focusing on one type of highperformance product each. The effect of this has been significant in terms of manufacturing efficiency, quality and faster delivery of products to the highest possible standards. We are continuing to commit resources in new plant and technology in order to meet the increasing demand for our products in the natural resource sectors such as oil and gas, as well as increasing demand from other industries focused on wastewater treatment, desalination and pulp and paper.

“We are also occasionally involved in architectural projects such as tubular stainless steel bridge constructions, but these are rather an exception. The future looks very positive for OSTP with our key markets remaining buoyant and seeing consistent growth. This is particularly true in the Asian, Middle East and US markets but not so much so in Europe where demand has plateaued over the last few years.

Mr Gatti added, “In order to maintain our market lead in speciality and more complex stainless steel alloys, in 2008 OSTP made a major investment in a twin furnace facility with advanced process controls. This was an early step designed to satisfy the increasing demand for special alloys such as Duplex stainless steel. The oil and gas industries are the largest consumers of Duplex pipes and fittings. In fact, OSTP was the first tubular manufacturer of both pipes and fittings to be NORSOK approved according to the latest edition of this stand-

ard, M-60 edition 4, and we also have been approved for the super austentic stainless steel grade 254SMO (UNS S31254).

“Furthermore, we have continued to invest in new surface blasting equipment which reduces pickling time, thereby leading to better delivery performance and shorter lead times. Our on going mission is to offer our customers enhanced value throughout the production and service chain of our broad-based operations.”

Sustainable products with lower life-cycle impact

OSTP continues to produce material that enables its customers to achieve more efficient solutions and ones that offer lower life-cycle impact. Stainless steel is a key building block for a sustainable future, and sustainability has always been a key element of the company’s business strategy. Mr Gatti commented, “The idea of sustainability is embedded in our products, as stainless steel is a fully recyclable and a maintenance-free material. Sustainability in our operations stands for safety and health in the workplace and we continuously develop our processes to minimise the environmental impact of our operations.” n

For further information about the highperformance products and services of OSTP, visit: www.ostp.biz