“There are encouraging trends in the market from increases in production and oil prices to total demand. While taking a cautious approach, this presents an opportunity for us to power up our footprint to supply customers through a reliable, domestic value chain,” said Tenaris US president Luca Zanotti. “Our plants in the Northeast remain central to this strategy.”

The facilities were idled last year as the COVID-19 pandemic and other factors caused a collapse in energy prices and brought a halt to exploration and production. 

Tenaris used the time to make improvements to the Koppel plant, upgrading the caster to accommodate larger bar sizes and enhancing process automation and safety system. It also installed new cranes, overhauled existing cranes and installed a new production management system. 

All told, the company invested more than US$15 million in the facility, Tenaris said. 

It said the plant is set to resume operations in June. The Ambridge mill will come back on-line late this summer.