In a statement, company officials said the decision to restart the No. 1 electric-weld (ERW) pipe mill at its Lone Star Tubular facility is based on rising demand in the U.S. shale fields, especially in the Permian Basin.  

“We are encouraged by an improvement in market conditions and an increased customer demand for tubular products that are mined, melted and made in America,” U. S. Steel president and chief executive David B. Burritt said in a statement. 

The No. 1 mill, which has a capacity of around 400,000 tons, makes full-body normalized ERW pipe in outside diameters of between 7 inches and 16 inches. U. S. Steel said work to restart the mill will begin immediately and should be completed in the third quarter. 

U. S. Steel in 2016 announced that was idling the Lone Star plant amid a slump in the U.S. energy market and an influx of unfairly traded imports. It reopened the plant's No. 2 mill the following year. The No. 2 mill makes pipe in diameters from 2 3/8 inches to 7 inches.