Ground was broken Monday for a $975 million steel steel tube manufacturing project at The Port of Caddo-Bossier in Shreveport, LA, which is in Haynesville Shale Country. Some of the plant’s output will serve the U.S. oil and gas industry in southern and Midwestern states.

The Benteler International AG project’s first phase, a hot-rolling seamless steel tube facility, is scheduled to be completed in the third quarter of 2015. A second phase will lead to the opening of a steel mill with an electric arc furnace in 2020. When complete, the project will span 1.35 million square feet on 330 acres at the port.

“This project is one of the largest manufacturing investments in the history of Northwest Louisiana,” said Gov. Bobby Jindal. “Benteler considered building this new project in a dozen other states but chose Louisiana because we are in the heart of America’s energy corridor and because we have a strong business climate, world-class shipping infrastructure, and the best workers in the world.”

The company considered more than 100 prospective sites in 13 states, the governor said.

“This new manufacturing facility, our first in the U.S., is an important part of our global growth strategy,” said Matthias Jaeger, CEO of Benteler Steel/Tube GmbH. “With more than 25% of our steel/tube products already flowing into the United States, and demand expected to increase, this new Caddo Parish plant is poised to play a critical role in supporting the U.S. domestic energy industry.”

Based in Paderborn, Germany, Benteler Steel/Tube possesses decades of experience in the development, production and sale of seamless hot-rolled and seamless cold-drawn steel tubes. The company is a business unit of privately held Benteler International AG, which is based in Salzburg, Austria. The seamless steel tubes produced by the facility will be used for the exploration and transportation of oil and gas, as well as for the generation of power and mechanical applications.

Currently, seamless steel tube facilities of various manufacturers in North America are concentrated in Alabama, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Mexico. The output of the new Louisiana facility will be destined for such locations as Illinois, Indiana, Ohio and Texas.

The $975 million facility will be capable of producing up to 320,000 tons of steel tube product annually. Benteler’s analysis shows strong U.S. demand for tubular goods through 2035 as the nation reduces energy imports and increases domestic production oil and gas production.

Recently, Louisiana landed its third gas-to-liquids project based on the strength of shale gas output in the region (see Daily GPI, Sept. 6).