Leading steel pipe manufacturer Welspun Corp plans to spend $100 million (Rs 500 crore) and add 200 jobs at its 3,50,000-tonne Little Rock production unit in Arkansas state of the US.
"... Announced it will expand again, adding 200 jobs and investing an additional $100 million in its Little Rock facility, Arkansas, the company's first large-diameter pipe manufacturing location in North America," Welspun said in a statement today.
It added that with this expansion, Welspun will bring total overall investment to $280 million in Little Rock facility since opening in April 2009.
Through this expansion, the company will expand its product line of steel pipes to include the production of 6-inch to 20-inch ERW steel pipes, it said. The ERW pipes are largely used by oil and gas companies.
"We believe that this new investment will pave the way for Welspun to continue on its path of becoming one of the most respected line-pipe companies in the world," Welspun chairman B K Goenka said in the statement, which added that the company had announced its new investment plan yesterday at the Little Rock city, the US.
Early this month, the company had said that it is gearing up to construct a new 1,75,000 tonnes per annum capacity ERW steel pipe and coating unit at the US facility with an estimated investment of $65 million.
The unit is expected to be commissioned by March, 2013, it had said, adding that peak production capacity of the unit is expected in FY'14.
Shares of the company were trading at Rs 140.55 apiece on the BSE at 1420 hrs, down 4.45% from the previous close.
