Posted on 03/03/2017 7:08:57 PM PST by stars & stripes forever
President Trump’s pledge that new pipeline projects will use “American steel” will not apply to the Keystone XL project, according to media reports, directly contradicting the president’s own words last week.
Politico reported late Thursday night that a White House spokeswoman explained that the project, which has been in the works for the past decade, does not count as a “new” or “retrofitted” pipeline, and therefore is not subject to Mr. Trump’s made-in-America requirement.
Comments from TransCanada, the company proposing the project, on Friday morning seem to confirm the firm will not be forced to use all U.S. steel.
The president in January signed an order calling for all new pipeline projects — or those undergoing significant retrofits or repairs — to “use materials and equipment produced in the United States.”
More broadly, the president has made the use of American steel and other materials in construction projects a centerpiece of his economic pitch.
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtontimes.com ...
All the pipe for that project is already in inventory. That will be used first, but, if any additional pipe is needed, Trump has a valid point in requiring them to use American pipe.
I was reading some other articles on the subject. Apparently AMERICAN steel needs to be modernized to keep up with new technology. NAFTA is more than eager to bankrupt AMERICAN industry. PRESIDENT TRUMP got elected none too soon. Hopefully he can help turn this around.
“The way that executive order is written … it’s specific to new pipelines or those that are being repaired,” Sarah Huckabee Sanders told media travelling with Trump to Florida.
It may be a case of not being able to produce the size of pipe required at the drop of a hat. How many pipe mills operating in the USA right now? what size pipe producing? The companies that produced the pipe for the Alaska pipeline are long gone, Armco Steel in Houston and US Steel in Baytown TX, shut down after that project
I wonder if the pipeline even used steel with imperial measurements.
Wouldn’t be surprised if it was metric pipe’
Makes it more difficult but not impossible to retrofit.
lots of you guys in the know make great points. I’m kind of shocked at the Washington times as they are usually on our side. It doesn’t matter. In 1400 days all people are going to care about is that they are working and making good money and they are safe.
They can either flange it, or change the size at the terminals. So, the main line would be a weird size-metric, and the feeders that tie into it would be changed at the connection.
They got all the pipe they need to finish on hand right now.
The problem I have is, if that pipe came from China, I would require a VERY strict testing of it BEFORE it is installed. That steel is generally not very uniform in quality.
Then, document it and if that stuff fails tests, ban ALL steel imports from China.
One is US Steel. There are several others.
But, like you said, not as many as used to be. And this is a product that cant be simply produced at a high rate and set into the manufacter inventory.
Not like other types of pipe.
http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trump-pipeline-transcanada-idUSKBN15E22M
“But U.S. steelmakers will receive negligible benefit from the multi-billion dollar Keystone XL project, one of the two projects Trump ordered to proceed, because they have limited ability to meet the stringent materials requirements for the TransCanada line.
Economists said Trump’s order has many loopholes to enforcement and could violate international trade law.
Meanwhile, in the quiet prairie town of Gascoyne, North Dakota, deer wander among gleaming stacks of steel tubing intended for the Keystone pipeline. The company bought the material years ago when the U.S. debate was raging over whether the project should go ahead.
TransCanada tried for more than five years to build the 1,179-mile (1,897 km) pipeline, until then-President Barack Obama rejected it in 2015.
Since the materials were already purchased for Keystone, Trump’s move to revive the project should not result in new large steel orders.
The profits for manufacturing that steel were booked by companies with corporate headquarters in Russia, India and Italy. Those companies own the steel mills in the United States that made about half of the pipeline for the $8 billion project.
Much of that steel has sat exposed to the elements in several giant stockyards along the pipeline’s route for more than two years. Analysts said some of it will need to be replaced.
But that is unlikely to come from U.S. producers, such as U.S. Steel, AK Steel or Steel Dynamics, analysts and traders said, because of the specialized steel required for the big-ticket project.”
Looks like about half of it was made in the US and I bet most of the rest was Canadian.
Yup. That and they have to renegotiate the labor contracts in the companies. They need to go to a bonus plan in hose places to include labor in the losses or profits. Scanlon was a good one in the day.
BTW, where I hail from-the UP of Michigan, has vast reserves of IRON ORE and those mines still left up on the iron range are really in financial trouble. That range runs from the mid UP all the way into MN.
One thing us locals used to wonder about was, why in the hell didnt they set up steel mills in Escanaba Mich or Menominee since they have deep water ports there to ship? The ice can nowdays be kept clear for the entire shipping season, and if that doesnt fit the bill, there is mainline rail. Those mills would be less than 60 miles from the mines up there.
“But that is unlikely to come from U.S. producers, such as U.S. Steel, AK Steel or Steel Dynamics, analysts and traders said, because of the specialized steel required for the big-ticket project.”
These experts are full of you know what. If say, US Steel had a chance to make some money does anyone think they wouldnt jump at it? Granted, they would most likely require a contract that required any new projects would be supplied from their mills.
The Iron Range—a Democratic stronghold ever since the government and unions destroyed an entire industry and converted generations of workers into government dependents. The progeny of these proud workers grow up in an environment where they scrabble for the crumbs scattered by those who impoverished them. It’s strange how government compassion is indistinguishable from slavery.
The only county Trump did not win in the UP of MI was Marquette and that is because that county is a college county-NMU. Marquette is a town of fruits and..
MN, I dont know and dont care.
Plenty of steel pipe will be required for the future energy independence program and the infrastructure program.
“It may be a case of not being able to produce the size of pipe required at the drop of a hat. How many pipe mills operating in the USA right now?”
From CNN:
http://money.cnn.com/2017/03/03/news/companies/trump-keystone-pipeline-american-steel/index.html
“TransCanada said late Friday it has already has purchase agreements for the steel pipe it will use on Keystone. It said half of the pipe will come from the Arkansas plant of India-based steelmaker, Welspun. Another 10% will come from a Welspun plant in India, the rest will be imported from Canada and Italy. In addition, it has already purchased about $800 million worth of other goods from U.S. manufacturers.”
US Steel sold off their pipeline gear to someone else a long time back, as someone pointed out upthread. They can’t reconstruct the capability to produce the required product in the required quantities in the time required. It’s like asking Boeing to make a 747 from scratch by tomorrow - not going to happen.
All the pipe for that project is already in inventory. That will be used first, but, if any additional pipe is needed, Trump has a valid point in requiring them to use American pipe.
The amount of steel used in the Keystone pipeline won’t put a dent in the America’s steel production and most of the pipe has been allocated and is waiting for installation.
The most important aspect of the Keystone pipeline is that we get it built as fast as possible. It should have been completed years ago and time is of the essence
Welspur Arkansas : http://www.welspunpipes.us.com/content.asp?Submenu=Y&MenuID=1&SubmenuID=1
The facility spreads over 800 acres of land, the largest in North America.
Capable of producing 350,000 MT of 24” to 60” Spiral (HSAW) pipe.
The new HFW facility is already producing 6” to 20” pipe, with a capacity of 175,000 MT
Coating facilities, one for HSAW and one for HFW
Excellent logistical solutions available rail, truck or barge
One of its kind in the world with a combination of IUT & Radiosopic inpection for internal Quality Control.
State ofthe art technically advanced mills
Big place!!
Shortly after PRESIDENT Trump said that American steel only would be used on the pipeline, I remember reading an article saying that all of the pipe for Keystone had already been purchased. This isn’t no great revelation. The “media” may want to start reading their own articles.
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