BRONZEVILLE, Texas – More investment and jobs are coming to the Rio Grande Valley, said Luis Rafael (Ralph) Quinn, vice chair of the Brownsville Port Commission.
In an exclusive interview with Rio Grande Guardian International News Service Addressing the Brownsville State of the City, Quinn said Mexico’s Forza Steel is investing $150 million in a new plant in the Port of Brownsville.
He said the steel plant would create 140 new jobs.
“We have a new steel fabrication plant under construction right now. Forza Steel will be right across the street from Keppel AmFELS, right there at the traffic light. They’ve taken over the old U-Pull-It location,” Quinn said.
They’re investing $150 million and will employ about 140 people. They got the skeleton of the building that is being erected now.”
So far, Quinn said Forza Steel hasn’t made any public announcements about its new factory.
“They wanted to be very quiet about going forward. They didn’t want to announce anything until they got the steel in there. They’re a Mexican company. They believe in Brownsville. We’re on the border by sea so they can ship by sea or pick up by sea.” And we’re close to Monterrey where they have other operations. It’s part of the close support.”
According to the biographical details on the company’s website, Forza Steel has been in the steel market for more than 20 years. “We specialize in manufacturing carbon steel tubes,” says the company.
Our facilities are located in Monterrey on a plot of land with a total area of 60 hectares, and the production area is approximately 106,000 square meters; In addition, we have a railway (speer) with a capacity of 33 railway cars.
The factory is located in the municipality of Salinas Victoria, Nuevo León.
“We manufacture longitudinal seam pipes and spiral seam pipes. Both round tubes and square tubes are manufactured by longitudinal seam under a continuous forming process using electric resistance welding,” the company’s website explains.
“Round pipe with a straight weld is ideal for fluid delivery, structural use, as well as excellent aesthetics; while a square pipe requires less steel in its structure, which makes it strong, safe and at the same time lighter than other components.”
The company says the spiral tubes are manufactured under a submerged arc welding process both internally and externally, which ensures 100 percent weld penetration into the tube.
“The spiral or helical pipe manufacturing process is most efficient in large diameters, which ensures the quality and competitiveness of our projects. Our products are manufactured with high quality raw materials.”
Eduardo (Eddie) A. Campirano, Port Director and CEO of the Port of Brownsville, spoke briefly about Forza Steel. At the South Texas Manufacturing Association meeting in February, Campirano was the keynote speaker.
“We have another company coming up, and that’s Forza Steel,” Campirano told STMA members. “This is a Mexican company that wants to get into the American market and kind of get their fingers wet. It’s basically going to be material tube manufacturing, bend steel, for the automotive market, the energy business; the construction business. Hey, $32 million investment, over 50 jobs, we’ll take it.” .
Campirano also spoke briefly about Forza Steel when appearing on KURV Radio.
“The first stage of their development is 150 jobs,” said Campirano. “It’s fabricated. They’re going to manufacture pipe to pipe, for both the construction industry and the energy industry. It’s more of a plant than a steel producer. It’s 150 jobs in its initial phase. They’re building a facility here at the port. They too will expand in the future. Their plans require that their first phase be They’re ready to go, hopefully, by the end of the year. They’re in full development now.”
Editor’s note: The main image accompanying the news story above is credited to Forza Steel.
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