Operations begin at Benteler Steel Tube mill

PORT OF CADDO-BOSSIER (KSLA) - At least 350 people are on the job at the new Benteler Steel and Tube Mill at the Port of Caddo-Bossier.

Construction started in May 2013, and Benteler broke ground on the first phase, a steel tube rolling facility, in September 2013.  Plant operations started up last month once that phase was completed. The manufacturer is now in the process of ramping up production.

A second building will take several years to complete.

Benteler eventually plans to hire a total of 675 full-time employees, once their facility reaches full capacity. They say hiring and training is "on track."

The $975 million plant is the first project of its kind that the company has built outside of Germany.

The company also built a 65,000 square foot manufacturing training facility the campus of Bossier Parish Community College. The $21 million Center for Advanced Manufacturing and Engineering Technology opened in November 2014.

About Benteler Steel/Tube

Benteler Steel/Tube is a specialist in the manufacturing and processing of seamless hot-rolled steel tubes, and seamless cold-drawn precision steel tubes, serving international customers in the automotive, OCTG/line pipe, heat transfer, hydraulics/precision engineering, and construction sectors. Read more about the company here.

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