Tenaris unveils $306M modernization plan for its Sault operation

Tenaris Canada president Martin Castro (at the podium), is joined May 22 in Sault Ste. Marie, Ont., by Ontario Trade Minister Vic Fedeli, left, Industry Minister Melanie Joly, Ontario Premier Doug Ford, Sault MP Terry Sheehan and Sault Mayor Matthew Shoemaker. (Supplied)

At a news conference Friday in Sault Ste. Marie, Tenaris announced it was combining with the federal and provincial governments on a $305.9 million modernization of its operations in the city.

“The plan will expand production, extend product range, and maximize productivity through the installation of new, state-of-the-art equipment,” Tenaris said in a May 22 news release.

“The improvement in material flows will impact each stage in the seamless and electric resistance-welded manufacturing processes, including hot rolling and stretch reduction, heat treatment, testing capabilities and finishing.”

Feds provide $76M, province $72M

Industry Minister Melanie Joly announced federal money totalling $76.2 million, while Ontario Premier Doug Ford said the province would provide up to $72 million, with Tenaris providing the remainder of the investment.

“Today’s investment will enable Tenaris to acquire new equipment, increase automation and upgrade existing production lines … while creating and maintaining over 1,000 well-paying jobs over the course of the project,” said a news release from Joly’s office.

“Tenaris will expand production of tubular products for oil, gas and industrial markets by improving efficiency, increasing domestic capacity and diversifying products, while bolstering energy sovereignty, strengthening supply chains and building industrial resilience.”

The company will also introduce “advanced technologies and digitalization, enabling the production of high‑spec seamless tubular products designed for complex operating environments,” the release added.

Steel industry hard hit by tariffs

The Canadian steel industry has been under siege after U.S. President Donald Trump imposed tariffs as high as 50 per cent on steel.

“Our government remains firmly committed to supporting the steel sector in Sault Ste. Marie,” Joly said in the news release.

“At a time of rising tariffs and trade uncertainty, our government’s investment in Tenaris will reinforce local manufacturing, create well-paying jobs and deliver real, lasting benefits for the region and for Canada.”

Tenaris is Canada’s only seamless steel pipe manufacturer that uses advanced manufacturing technologies to produce differentiated pipe products for Canada’s oil and gas sector.

“Tenaris’s investment in Sault Ste. Marie is a strong vote of confidence in Ontario’s world-class workers and in our plan to protect Ontario by building a more competitive and resilient economy,” Ford said in a statement.

Opening new markets

“Our government will continue to stand up for workers in industries impacted by tariffs, both here in Sault Ste. Marie and across Ontario, by diversifying our economy, finding new trading partners and supporting new pipelines, rail lines and other projects that use Ontario steel to open up new markets for Ontario products around the globe.”

Tenaris began hot rolling pipe by late 2000, making the company the sole domestic producer of seamless oil country tubular goods.

In 2022, the company unveiled significant upgrades at the Sault Ste. Marie facility, including the addition of electric resistance welded pipe manufacturing to the industrial centre.

“In Canada, we know energy connects us,” Martín Castro, president of Tenaris in Canada, said in the release.

“With this more than $300 million investment, on top of more than $350 million invested since 2020, we illustrate Tenaris’s steadfast commitment to Canadian manufacturing. Today’s milestone builds on the momentum to expand Canada’s domestic supply chain for (oil country tubular goods) and line pipe.”

Canada produces more than 12 million metric tonnes of crude steel a year, with domestic steel operations directly employing some 23,000 people while supporting an additional 100,000 indirect jobs.