[Ferro-Alloys.Com]Vallourec, world leader in premium tubular solutions, announces the successful production of its first pipes at its new US state of the art mill in Youngstown in Ohio.

This new mill, with the creation of 350 direct jobs, will be mainly dedicated to the production of small diameter OCTG1 to support the long term development of shale oil & gas exploitation in the US.

Following the piercing of the first billet on June 29th 2012 and the commissioning of the different equipment of the rolling mill, the first continuous production was achieved on October 26th 2012, on schedule for first sales to occur in the beginning of 2013.

With an initial production capacity of 350,000 tonnes of seamless pipe per year, this new offer will complement the range produced by Vallourec in North America and will consolidate the Group's leadership position as a provider of competitive and fully integrated premium tubular solutions.

The pipe produced in the new Youngstown mill can be equipped with the latest generation VAM? premium connections dedicated to exploitation in demanding conditions.

• [Editor:editor]