Berg Steel Begins Site Preparation for New Steel Pipe Mill in Mobile

---

Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas) – Site prep is underway for a $75 million spiral welded pipe mill in Mobile, Alabama. Berg Steel Pipe Corporation (Panama City, Florida), a division of EUROPIPE Group (Ratingen, Germany), is constructing a spiral double submerged arc welded steel pipe mill, which will produce and coat 180,000 tons per year of large diameter steel pipe for the oil and gas industry. The project is one of a number of steel pipe mill projects under development in the U.S. to meet growing demand for oil and gas pipe for new pipeline construction projects. See related February 9, 2007 news article for details - Activity for North American Steel Pipe Mill Capacity Expansion Reaches Fevered Pitch.

Berg Steel received a $6.6 million incentive package from Alabama government agencies to entice it to locate in Mobile. Originally reported by Industrial Info in August 2006, site selection was narrowed down to two sites from numerous sites in six states, including Louisiana and Texas. Earlier this year, Berg Steel selected Mobile over runner up site in Reserve, Louisiana. It’s the second major steel mill project that Louisiana has lost to Alabama this year. Earlier this year, another Germany based company, ThyssenKrupp announced selection of a site in Calvert, Alabama (North of Mobile) to construct a massive $3.7 billion steel mill complex, attracting close to $800 million in incentives from government agencies.

The Alabama State Port Authority sold the 86-acre site near the Mobile River for $2.9 million. The Berg Steel site will have rail and marine access through the Alabama State Port Authority. The plant will hire 100-150 employees.

H&M Company Incorporated (Jackson, Tennessee) has been selected as the design-build firm for the project. Construction will involve a 197,000 square foot mill building and an 86,000 square foot powder coating facility. Both buildings will be metal construction. Contractors plan to begin pouring foundations soon. The buildings are expected to be complete by summer 2008 and the plant should be up and operating by the end of the year. Mobile Gas will supply natural gas to the site.

Alabama ranks as the seventh largest U.S. state for industrial project spending in 2007, behind Texas, Illinois, Louisiana, California, New York, and Indiana (in order of greatest to least). Alabama also leads all states in Metals & Minerals Industry project spending in 2007 with more than $4.2 billion planned. For details see related July 25, 2007 news article - Top 10 States for Metals & Minerals Industry Project Spending in 2007.

View Plant Profile – 1026742
View Project Report – 04003282

Industrial Info Resources (IIR) provides marketing communication services ranging from industrial database solutions to market forecasting, custom analytics, and specialty promotions that support high-level image campaigns.