Tenaris SA has announced that, together with Sidor, a Venezuelan steel producer in which it has an indirect investment, it has signed an agreement with Posven (Venezuela) for the sale and purchase of its assets – principally an industrial facility for the production of pre-reduced hot briquetted iron, or HBI, located in Ciudad Guayana, Venezuela – for a price of USD 120 million. The facility, which has a nominal annual design capacity of 1.5 million tons of HBI and was constructed by Raytheon Engineers & Constructors using technology developed by Hylsamex, a Mexican steel producer, has been shut down since 2001 shortly after commencing operations. This investment, which complements a previous investment in the Comsigua HBI plant also located in Ciudad Guayana, Venezuela, will allow Tenaris to secure a further low-cost source of high quality ferrous raw material.
