Steel Mills

EVRAZ NA Closing Portland Spiral Mill

Written by Sandy Williams

February 12, 2016

EVRAZ North America announced it will idle indefinitely the Portland Spiral pipe mill in Oregon, effective April 9, 2016. The idling will result in the termination of 130 employees.

The closure was “a result of economic challenges from three primary factors: delays in regulatory approvals for pipelines in the U.S. and Canada; the influx of unfairly traded and subsidized imported large diameter pipe to the U.S.; and high import duties of up to 50% for potential pipe shipments into Mexico,” said Melodie Ruse, Senior Manager Communications at EVRAZ NA.

The spiral mill is the only operation to be affected in the area. The Flat Products operation in Portland is not impacted and, as the only plate mill on the West Coast, will continue to service customers, said Ruse.

EVRAZ continues to be committed the leader in North American large diameter pipe, said Ruse. “Our pipeline customers are actively engaged in getting regulatory approvals and we continue to support their efforts.”

“Elsewhere, low oil prices and significant volumes of dumped imports have reduced our total steel requirements,” said Ruse. “We recently announced the layoff of 18 Regina employees in steelmaking due to these factors. We will continue to closely monitor the market and make production adjustments accordingly.”

EVRAZ North America has six production sites located in the USA (Portland, Oregon; Pueblo, Colorado) and Canada (Regina, Saskatchewan; Calgary, Camrose and Red Deer, Alberta). The company produces a wide array of specialty steel products: plate, coiled plate, welded and seamless pipe for oil and gas applications, rail and wire rod and bar.

Sandy Williams

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