T H E V A L L O U R E C & M A N N E S M A N N T U B E S M A G A Z I N E

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APPLICATION

Fine-grain steel tubes for large cranes

BOUS STEELWORKS

Dependable steel supplies

CUSTOMER PORTRAIT

Luxury liners made by Meyer Werft

New plant opened in Changzhou

Another Chinese dragon comes to life

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T his is the second production sitethat the Vallourec Group has set up in Changzhou. In 1996,

the Stainless Steel Division openedChangzhou Valinox Great Wall Co. Ltd.Now VALLOUREC & MANNES-MANN TUBES has officially openedits new mill, VALLOUREC & MANNES-MANN CHANGZHOU Co Ltd. Hereseamless steel tubes, mainly from thetwo Düsseldorf works in Rath andReisholz, are finished before delivery tothe customers. Meanwhile, Vallourec and its subsidia-ries are already planning further projects

in Changzhou. An investment runninginto millions was announced only oneday before the opening ceremony at thenew plant. In October, V & M TUBES'OCTG (Oil Country Tubular Goods)Division will start to build a threadingshop which is scheduled to start up asearly as mid-2007. Nor are furtherinvestments by any means ruled out.

FAVOURABLE INVESTMENT CLIMATEThe opening celebrations for the fini-shing plant started on the eve of the big day with a festive dinner for the

customers and representatives who hadmade the journey. When the heavensopened on the day itself, the huge marquee at the works entrance was awelcoming shelter for the 300 or soguests at the ceremony. In his speech,Pierre Verluca revealed why the Grouphad chosen Changzhou in particular forits all-important investments in theChinese market. "The presence of trained workers and the good infra-structure tip the scales in favour ofChangzhou and create an outstandingclimate for the Group's future invest-ments in China, too."

The Chinese dragons held still while Wang Weichang, Mayor of the ambitious Chinese metropolis of Changzhou,

and Pierre Verluca, Chairman of the Management Board of Vallourec, painted an eye on them, bringing them to

life in so doing. This tradition was re-enacted on 29 September 2006 at the official opening ceremony of the

new V & M TUBES finishing plant for seamless steel tubes. Afterwards, a surprise awaited the invited guests: the

special occasion was celebrated in true Chinese style with table fireworks, crackers and streamers to mark the

cutting of the red ribbon.

New plant opened in Changzhou

Another Chinese dragon comes to life

M I L L N E W S

V & M R E P O R T N O . 1 8 - D E C E M B E R 2 0 0 64

Wang Weichang,Mayor of the city of Changzhou, paintsan eye on the dragon to bring it to life.

Mayor WangWeichang, Chairman ofthe Management BoardPierre Verluca and COOFrancois Fabre (l. to r.)

cut the red ribbon toofficially open the

works.

is an investment in the future – for itstrengthens our creativity and competi-tive strength on the Chinese market."At present, capacity working at the plantis also assured, with orders already onthe books for the 4th quarter of 2007.

VALLOUREC'S SONS TOTHRIVE AND PROSPER

"Changzhou is a window to China andwe are keen to incorporate interna-tional investments in our developmentstrategy," said Mayor Wang Weichang.

international and customer-specific quality standards, just like with past deliveries from Europe. This is no problem for production in China, sincethe plant is integrated into the Group'sinternational management system. Fullcertification under ISO 9000 is anti-cipated by the end of 2006.Dr Marco Antônio Castello Branco,member of the Vallourec ManagementBoard and head of the Hot Rolled Tubesdivision at V & M TUBES, summed upthe advantages of the new works: "This

This second plant in Changzhou further bonded the long-term businessrelationship with the Chinese customersand partners and evidenced the Chinesemarket's outstanding position in the pipe and tube business, said Verluca, looking forward to future partnerships:"We want to go on expanding our pre-sence in China and secure our customerrelationships over the long term."

TRAINING IN DÜSSELDORFThe workforce at the new Changzhouplant was trained in the Düsseldorf-Reisholz mill, where the same facilitiesfor finish-machining tubes have been inoperation for years. The Chinese cus-tomers, mainly from the power-plantand mechanical engineering sectors,expect compliance with all national, •••

V & M R E P O R T N O . 1 8 - D E C E M B E R 2 0 0 6 5

(l. to r.) Dr MarcoAntônio Castello

Branco, member ofthe Vallourec

Management Boardand head of the Hot

Rolled Tubes Divisionat V & M TUBES,

Dr Christoph Prasser,Vallourec, Vice-

President, Technologyand Investments,Serge Vandroux,

manager of the newworks, Alain Honnart,

member of theVallourec ExecutiveCommitee, Rainer

Lenzen, departmentleader Industry

and Vincent Delcour,head of the sales

division Powergen of V & M TUBES.

Investments in thenew Chinese works

totalled some 30 million euros.

This shop houses not only drills and lathes but also internal and external grinders, saws and testing equipment.

The 100-strong workforce at thenew plant in Changzhou comprises

largely graduates from the city'suniversities and colleges.

V & M R E P O R T N O . 1 8 - D E C E M B E R 2 0 0 66

Depicting his city's plans for the future,he was not shy about drawing compa-risons with V & M TUBES' Germanmills. "The facilities I visited inDüsseldorf in 2005 were excellent and the products fabricated there are of high quality. But the new plant inChangzhou is simply more beautiful and more modern than the traditionalfacilities in Europe," said the self-confident Mayor. Vallourec and V & M

TUBES had now given birth to Chinesesons and the city of Changzhou wouldtake over a fostering role and do its bitto ensure that the offspring thrive andprosper. Weichang's vision of the futureis long-term: "Changzhou is a goodplace for children, and we will do our utmost to help the children growinto adults who, in the future, will them-selves give birth to children and grand-children."

GLOBALITY REFLECTEDIN THE MACHINES AND EQUIPMENT

A tour of the plant revealed a strikingassortment of machines from differentsources, both European brands anddomestic Chinese makes. They includedrilling machines and turning lathes,internal and external grinding machines,saws and test benches. The capital

•••

The internal grinding machines are fitted with dust extractors made in China. The hydrostatictester can accommodate tubes in diametersof 300 to 1100millilmetres.

The office building’sentrance.

Visitors on a tour of the workshops were very impressed by the production facilities.

M I L L N E W S

What makes Changzhou so inter-esting for foreign investors? The3.5-million city lies in the YangtzeDelta Region in the YunlongDistrict, on the main railway linkbetween Shanghai and Beijing. Alocal airport 15 kilometres outsidethe city offers flights to Beijing,Guangzhou and other majorChinese cities. The city itselfhas an area of some 4,375square kilometres.Changzhou was originallyfamous for its comb manu-

facturing, but today it's a favoured location for a diversifiedrange of industries, in particular mechanical engineering,metallurgy and agricultural machines but also the automotiveand the textile industries.Changzhou is also interesting as an academic city with univer-sities such as the Jiangsu University of Science and Technologyproducing more than 20,000 well trained graduates every year.

Modernisation in the city took a tremendous leap forward underChina's 10th Five-Year Plan. Today, Changzhou is one of China'stop 40 cities with the best investment climates. Shipping on theYangtze River, good road and rail connections and the national airport have helped here. The city can look back over 2500 years of history. Its Dinosaur Park is a great tourist attraction, showingfossil finds from all over China. Another magnet for tourists is the Tianning Temple, whose 153.79-metre pagoda is the highest inthe world.

Changzhou

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expenditure for all this ran to some 30 million euros and the result is a plantthat can handle about 20,000 tonnes of tube a year.Serge Vandroux, the works manager, wasproud to show off the latest modern offices for the bookkeeping, qualitymanagement, job scheduling, and all theother departments needed in the admi-nistration section of the new building.

A REAL GEMThe plant's green surroundings are still not quite finished, but the little garden and an attractively designed entrance area are real gems. This isthanks not least to the MSH sections

The ultrasonic test facility detects even hidden defects.

The tube surface is machined on this turninglathe. from V & M TUBES which allowed

a particularly quick construction and filigree design. A tour of the new work-shops left the visitors impressed by thecleanness and the pleasant atmospherethere.At the concluding lunch, a further per-sonnel appointment was announced:Wilfried Schmidt, plant manager of the tube mill in Düsseldorf Reisholz,succeeds Dr Christoph Prasser as chairman of the management board ofV & M CHANGZHOU Ltd. Dr Prasserhad accompanied the setting up of thenew company and will now concentrateon his activities as Vice-President, Tech-nology and Investments of Vallourec.

After the celebrations, a last look intothe workshops in the early afternoonreveals how few people are left there.Employees with cases, however, aregathered in front of the works buildingand two buses are waiting at the gate.Asked the reason, works manager SergeVandroux explains: "We are off now on a four-day trip. The aim is to further heighten the workforce's teamspirit and loyalty through a variety of different exercises." For further surprises from the Chinese V & MTUBES team in the future, as they say,watch this space! (BS)