SteelOrbis has learned that Italian tube producer Marcegaglia's new Chinese tube production plant in the Yangzhou region, near Shanghai, is expected to commence production operations in the second half of 2010.

The building facility and the offices will be ready by the end of January, to be followed by the installation of equipment.

The new plant will cover a surface area of 700,000 square meters and will be able to produce 350,000 mt of tubes per year, 20,000 of which will consist of stainless steel tubes. The scheduled annual turnover will be worth around €450,000, with about 650 workers employed. The provisional investment in the plant stands at €150 million.

Production will include ERW tubes made from HRC, cold drawn tubes for automotive application, cooling tubes made from CRC and stainless steel tubes.

With this investment Marcegaglia will focus on emerging markets in Asia and the Pacific with a special eye on China.