Steel Products Prices North America

Zekelman to Invest $150 Million in “World’s Largest” ERW Tube Mill

May 9, 2019

Zekelman Industries plans to invest $150 million to construct what it claims will be the world’s largest continuous ERW tube mill, making welded sections above 16-inch square available to the domestic market for the first time. Startup of the new mill is scheduled for September 2021.

The mill will be capable of producing hollow structural sections (HSS) with a size range of 8″ square x 0.750″ wall up to 22″ square x 1″ wall. Atlas Tube, a division of Zekelman Industries, will produce square, rectangular and round structural sections in the mill. The largest rectangular section will be 34″ x 10″ x 1″ wall, and the largest round section will be 28″ OD x 1″ wall. The new mill will produce products to meet or exceed ASTM A500, ASTM A1085, CSA G40 and ASTM A252, the company said.

The mill will also be engineered to allow for world-leading change-over times of less than 60 minutes, as well as special forming and sizing technology for precise dimensional tolerance, the company said. Zekelman Industries has selected SMS as the supplier for the mill, Kusakabe for the milling cut-off and Mair for the material handling and packaging line.

The investment is a firm vote of confidence in U.S. manufacturing and the future growth of the steel industry in America, said Barry Zekelman, CEO of Zekelman Industries. “At Zekelman, we continue with our long-standing goal of creating, not waiting for, the future.”

The new ERW mill will greatly increase the range of HSS products available to the North American market and will help grow the use of all steel products in the nonresidential construction market, Zekelman added. The highly automated production line will create over 75 new manufacturing jobs.

“Over the past few years, we have seen the increasing need for larger, domestically produced HSS in the bridge, transportation and building markets,” said Tom Muth, president of Atlas Tube. “Also, HSS with thicker walls that meet the more stringent width-to-thickness ratio requirements of the AISC Seismic Provisions is in greater demand for lateral bracing systems.”

“This new mill gives structural engineers new tools to meet the demands of designing and building cost-efficient and safe steel structures,” added Brad Fletcher, senior sales engineer for Atlas Tube.