Tenaris S.A. (Tenaris) manufactures and supplies steel pipe products and related services for the world’s energy industry and other industrial applications.
The company’s customers include most of the world’s leading oil & gas companies, and it operates an integrated network of steel pipe manufacturing, research, finishing, and service facilities, with industrial operations in the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, Asia, and Africa.
Although the company’s operations are mainly focused on servi...
Tenaris S.A. (Tenaris) manufactures and supplies steel pipe products and related services for the world’s energy industry and other industrial applications.
The company’s customers include most of the world’s leading oil & gas companies, and it operates an integrated network of steel pipe manufacturing, research, finishing, and service facilities, with industrial operations in the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, Asia, and Africa.
Although the company’s operations are mainly focused on serving the oil & gas industry, it also supplies pipes and tubular components for non-energy applications. The company develops and supplies products and services for low-carbon energy applications, such as geothermal wells, waste-to-energy (bioenergy) power plants, hydrogen storage and transportation, and carbon capture and storage (‘CCS’).
As of December 31, 2024, the company’s investments included controlling interests in several manufacturing companies: Siat S.A., an Argentine welded steel pipe manufacturer; Tamsa, the sole Mexican producer of seamless steel pipe products; Dalmine S.p.A. (‘Dalmine’), a leading Italian producer of seamless steel pipe products; Confab, the leading Brazilian producer of welded steel pipe products; Algoma Tubes Inc. (‘AlgomaTubes’), a Canadian producer of seamless and welded steel pipe products; S.C. Silcotub S.A. (‘Silcotub’), a leading Romanian producer of seamless steel pipe products; Maverick Tube Corporation (‘Maverick’), a U.S. producer of seamless and welded steel pipe products; Tenaris TuboCaribe Ltda. (‘TuboCaribe’), a welded pipe mill producing OCTG products, including finishing of welded and seamless pipes, line pipe products, and couplings in Colombia; Hydril, a North American manufacturer of premium connection products for oil and gas drilling production; PT Seamless Pipe Indonesia Jaya (‘SPIJ’), an Indonesian OCTG processing business with heat treatment and premium connection threading facilities; Tenaris Qingdao Steel Pipes Ltd. (‘Tenaris Qingdao’), a Chinese producer of premium joints, couplings, and tubular components for airbags; Pipe Coaters Nigeria Ltd. (‘Pipe Coaters’), a leading company in the Nigerian coating industry; Tenaris Bay City Inc. (‘Tenaris Bay City’), a state-of-the-art seamless pipe mill in Bay City, Texas; Saudi Steel Pipe Company (‘SSPC’), a Saudi producer of welded steel pipe products; IPSCO Tubulars (‘IPSCO’), a North American manufacturer of seamless and welded steel pipes; Tenaris Baogang Baotou Steel Pipes, Ltd. (‘TBSP’), a Chinese company that owns a premium connection threading facility in Baotou, China, in which the company has a 60% interest; Global Pipe Company (‘GPC’), a Saudi company that manufactures longitudinal submerged arc welded (‘LSAW’) pipes; Bredero Shaw International BV (‘BSIBV’) and its subsidiaries, which hold the pipe coating business acquired from Mattr Corporation (‘Mattr’); Tenaris Oilfield Services S.A., an Argentine company providing oilfield and hydraulic fracturing services; and sucker rods businesses in various countries.
In addition, the company owns a 50% participation in Exiros B.V. (‘Exiros’), a Dutch company that holds a network of specialized procurement companies, with its affiliate Ternium S.A. (‘Ternium’) holding the remaining 50%.
Strategy
The company’s business strategy is to consolidate its position as a leading global supplier of integrated product and service solutions to the energy and other industries, and to adapt to the energy transition through reducing carbon emissions in its operations, and developing and supplying products and services for low-carbon energy applications by: pursuing strategic investment opportunities and alliances; expanding its range of products, including the development of new products for the energy transition; enhancing the company’s offering of technical, digital, and supply chain integration services - Rig Direct - and extending their global deployment; and securing its existing sources of raw material and energy inputs, and gaining access to new sources.
Business Segments
The company has one major business segment, ‘Tubes’, which is also the reportable operating segment.
The Tubes segment includes the production and sale of steel tubular products and related services mainly for the oil and gas industry, particularly oil country tubular goods (OCTG) used in drilling operations, line pipe used in transportation and processing activities, and mechanical and structural tubes for other industrial applications, with production processes that consist of the production and transformation of steel into tubular products. Business activities included in this segment are mainly dependent on the worldwide oil and gas industry, as this industry is a major consumer of steel pipe products, particularly OCTG used in drilling activities. Demand for steel pipe products from the oil and gas industry has historically been volatile and depends primarily upon the number of oil and natural gas wells being drilled, completed, and reworked, and the depth and drilling conditions of these wells. Major oil and gas companies have adapted their strategies and allocated investments in renewable energies in response to the energy transition while maintaining their capability to meet market demand for oil and gas, and reducing emissions from their operations.
Sales are generally made to end users, with exports being done through a centrally managed global distribution network, and domestic sales are made through local subsidiaries.
The Other segment includes all business activities related to oilfield/hydraulic fracturing services, and the production and selling of sucker rods, coiled tubing, tubes used for plumbing and construction applications, and others, as energy and raw materials that exceed internal requirements.
Products
The company’s principal finished products are seamless and welded steel casing and tubing, line pipe, and various other mechanical and structural steel pipes for different uses. Casing and tubing are also known as OCTG. The company manufactures its steel pipe products in a wide range of specifications, which vary in diameter, length, thickness, finishing, steel grades, coating, threading, and coupling. For more complex applications, including high pressure and high temperature applications, seamless steel pipes are usually specified, and for some standard applications, welded steel pipes can also be used. In addition to oil and gas applications, many of the company’s products can also be used in low-carbon energy applications, such as geothermal, hydrogen, and CCS.
Casing: Steel casing is used to sustain the walls of oil and gas wells during and after drilling.
Tubing: Steel tubing is used to conduct crude oil and natural gas to the surface after drilling has been completed.
Line pipe: Steel line pipe is used to transport crude oil and natural gas from wells to refineries, storage tanks, and loading and distribution centers.
Mechanical and structural pipes: Mechanical and structural pipes are used by general industry for various applications, including the transportation of other forms of gas and liquids under high pressure.
Cold-drawn pipe: The cold-drawing process permits the production of pipes with the diameter and wall thickness required for use in boilers, superheaters, condensers, heat exchangers, automobile production, and several other industrial applications.
Premium joints and couplings: Premium joints and couplings are specially designed connections used to join lengths of steel casing and tubing for use in high temperature or high pressure environments. A significant portion of the company’s steel casing and tubing products are supplied with premium joints and couplings. The company owns an extensive range of premium connections, and following the integration of the premium connections business of Hydril, it has marketed its premium connection products under the ‘TenarisHydril’ brand name. In addition, the company holds licensing rights to manufacture and sell the ‘Atlas Bradford’ range of premium connections outside the United States, and it owns the ‘Ultra’ and ‘TORQ’ ranges of premium connections.
Pipe coatings: Concrete weight, anti-corrosion, thermal insulation, and flow assurance coatings for offshore and onshore pipelines.
Coiled tubing: Coiled tubing is used for oil and gas drilling, and well workovers, and for subsea pipelines.
Other products and services: The company manufactures sucker rods used in oil extraction activities, tubes used for plumbing and construction applications, oilfield/hydraulic fracturing services, and engages in other activities, such as the sale of energy and raw materials that exceed its internal requirements.
Sales and Marketing
North America
Sales to customers in North America accounted for 46% of the company’s sales of tubular products and services in 2024.
The company has significant sales and production facilities in each of the United States, Canada, and Mexico, where it provides customers with an integrated product and service offering based on local production capabilities supported by the company’s global industrial system. In the past few years, the company has extended its integrated product and service model, which it calls Rig Direct, throughout North America, and it operates a seamless pipe mill at Bay City, Texas, which is strategically located to serve the Eagle Ford and Permian regions. On January 2, 2020, the company acquired IPSCO, a U.S. seamless and welded pipe producer, and, in September 2023, it acquired Republic Tube’s OCTG pipe processing facility in Houston, with heat treatment and threading operations, further strengthening its local production capabilities and capacity to provide Rig Direct services in the United States. Under Rig Direct, the company manages the whole supply chain from the mill to the rig for customers under long-term agreements, integrating mill production with customer drilling programs, reducing overall inventory levels, simplifying operational and administrative processes, and providing technical and digital services.
The company supplies a large majority of its U.S. and Canadian customers for OCTG products with Rig Direct services.
Sales to the company’s oil and gas customers in the United States and Canada are highly sensitive to oil prices and regional natural gas prices. Over the past fifteen years, the drilling of productive shale gas and tight oil reserves, made possible by new drilling technology, has transformed drilling activity and oil and gas production in the United States and Canada. The United States has gone from being the largest global importer of oil to the largest global producer of crude oil and LNG.
Similarly, U.S. natural gas production has risen rapidly over the past decade, and the United States became a net exporter of natural gas for the first time in 2017, and since 2023 has been the largest exporter of LNG to global markets. In Canada, there has been a similar shift towards drilling of shale gas and tight oil reserves.
A particular feature of this recovery was the exceptional price levels for hot rolled coil in the North American market, which made the production of welded pipes uneconomic throughout 2021 and delayed the restart of U.S. welded pipe production into 2022. The ramp-up of production capacity in the United States was further affected by difficulties in hiring a qualified workforce in the post-COVID economy.
The company’s sales in the United States are also affected by the level of investment of oil and gas companies in exploration and production in offshore projects.
Oil and gas drilling in Canada is subject to strong seasonality, with the peak drilling season in Western Canada being during the winter months when the ground is frozen. During spring, as the ice melts, drilling activity is restricted by the difficulty of moving equipment in muddy terrain.
On June 30, 2021, Canada initiated an antidumping investigation on OCTG from Mexico. A full investigation was conducted and, on January 26, 2022, the Canadian International Trade Tribunal found that Mexican imports were not injuring the Canadian OCTG industry and closed the inquiry without imposing any duties.
In Mexico, the company has enjoyed a long and mutually beneficial relationship with Pemex, the Mexican state-owned oil company, and one of the world’s largest crude oil and condensate producers. In 1994, the company began supplying Pemex with Rig Direct services. At the end of 2022, it renewed its long-term agreement with Pemex for an additional three-year period.
In the last few years, the Mexican government has introduced measures that increase the role of state-owned enterprises, particularly CFE and Pemex, in oil production and processing activity and electricity dispatch, giving them priority over private companies. Pemex has been charged with reversing production declines and has built a new refinery, but over the past year, its financial situation has deteriorated and, in response, has reduced investments and delayed payments to suppliers, including the company, with the result that oil production in Mexico is falling rapidly.
South America
Sales to customers in South America accounted for 19% of the company’s sales of tubular products and services in 2024.
The company’s largest market in South America is Argentina. It also has significant sales in Brazil, Guyana, and Colombia. The company has manufacturing subsidiaries in Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, and Ecuador, while in Guyana, it provides in-country services.
The company’s sales in South America are sensitive to the international price of oil and its impact on the drilling activity of participants in the oil and gas sectors, as well as to general economic conditions in these countries. In addition, sales in Argentina, as well as export sales from its manufacturing facilities in Argentina, are affected by governmental actions and policies, such as the taxation of oil and gas exports, measures affecting gas and gasoline prices in the domestic market, and other matters affecting the investment climate.
A principal component of the company’s marketing strategy in South American markets is the establishment of long-term supply agreements and Rig Direct services with national and international oil and gas companies operating in those markets.
In Argentina, the company has a significant share of the market for OCTG products. It has longstanding business relationships with YPF S.A. (‘YPF’), the Argentine state-controlled company, and with other operators in the oil and gas sector. The company strengthened its relationship with YPF in 2013 through a long-term agreement, which was renewed for an additional five-year term at the beginning of 2022, under which it provides Rig Direct services with the objective of reducing YPF’s operational costs as it aims to increase production through investments in Argentina’s shale oil and gas reserves.
In Brazil, the company has a longstanding business relationship with Petrobras. It supplies Petrobras with casing and tubing (including premium connections) and line pipe products, many of which are produced in its Brazilian welded pipe facility, for both offshore and onshore applications. More recently, the company has increased the sale of imported seamless products to Petrobras for offshore use, including the supply of seamless casing with premium connections, accessories, and Rig Direct services for use in the pre-salt area, and seamless line pipe for use in offshore risers.
In Guyana and neighboring Suriname, offshore drilling activity has increased over the past few years following the discovery of large, cost-competitive oil reserves. The company is supplying casing for many of the exploration wells, and, at the end of 2021, it was awarded a 10-year contract to supply large and medium diameter casing with Rig Direct-like services to the main deepwater offshore development projects in the Stabroek block. In 2024, it was also awarded the line pipe and insulation coating for a deepwater development in Suriname and the insulation coating for an offshore pipeline in Guyana. These developments are transforming the Guyana and Suriname economies and are yielding a significant new source of oil to global markets.
In Colombia, the company has established a leading position in the market for OCTG products since 2006, following its acquisition of TuboCaribe, a welded pipe manufacturing facility located in Cartagena. The market grew in the previous decade as the country encouraged investment in its hydrocarbon industry and opened its national oil company to private investment. In 2020, the pandemic-related collapse in oil prices resulted in a drop in drilling activity, which recovered in 2021 and 2022. In 2023 and 2024, however, drilling activity has been affected by government policies aimed at reducing exploration activity while local protests and security concerns have increased at many drilling locations. The company’s principal customer in Colombia is Ecopetrol S.A. (‘Ecopetrol’), to which it supplies Rig Direct services. In February 2025, the company renewed its agreement with Ecopetrol for two years.
The company also has sales in Ecuador, supplying Petroamazonas Ecuador S.A., which merged with EP PetroEcuador, the national oil company, as well as private operators. To increase local content, the company has established a local OCTG threading facility in Machachi.
The company was present in the Venezuelan OCTG market for many years and maintained business relationships with Petróleos de Venezuela S.A. and the joint venture operators in the oil and gas sector until the imposition of economic sanctions by the Office of Foreign Assets Control (‘OFAC’). Additionally, the company maintained business relationships with Chevron in Venezuela until April 22, 2020, when their sanctions license expired. In 2023, Chevron was authorized to resume certain operations, which led to a limited resumption of sales in Venezuela, but, on March 1, 2025, the U.S. government decided not to renew the Chevron sanctions license.
Europe
Sales to customers in Europe accounted for 10% of the company’s sales of tubular products and services in 2024.
The company’s single largest country market in Europe has traditionally been Italy. The market for steel pipes in Italy (as in much of the EU) is affected by general industrial production trends, especially in the mechanical and automotive industry, and by investment in power generation, petrochemical, and oil refining facilities. In 2022, although activity was affected by the Russian invasion, the company’s sales increased as prices rose to compensate for higher costs, while in 2023, although activity declined, its sales remained stable reflecting a change in the competitive environment. In 2024, however, the company’s sales declined reflecting lower activity and competitive pressures from low-cost imports from China and Ukraine.
In Europe, the company also has significant sales to the oil and gas sector, particularly in the North Sea, but also in other areas, such as Romania and Turkey. In 2022, the company ceased sales to Russia that would breach applicable sanctions imposed by the U.S. and the EU following the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Sales in the North Sea rose during 2023 and remained stable in 2024 as drilling and gas pipeline construction activity increased, but are expected to decline in 2025 as activity, particularly in the UK, is curtailed.
In 2024, Turkey was the company’s largest country market in Europe, reflecting increased oil and gas activity and infrastructure development in the country. The company supplied an offshore pipeline for a natural gas development in the Black Sea, as well as premium OCTG used for onshore drilling and pipes for a gas storage project.
Europe is also a region that the company expects will be at the forefront of developments in low-carbon energy, including hydrogen storage and transportation, CCS, geothermal, and waste-to-energy power generation. The company is participating in these market segments where it expects to see growth in the coming years.
Asia Pacific, Middle East, and Africa
Sales to customers in the Asia Pacific, Middle East, and Africa accounted for 26% of the company’s sales of tubular products and services in 2024.
The company’s largest single country markets in the region are Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. In Saudi Arabia, in response to policies that have been implemented to diversify the economy and increase local manufacturing, the company has developed a substantial local manufacturing presence, first through the establishment of local premium threading facilities, and, more recently, through the acquisition of controlling participations in two welded pipe producers. In January 2019, the company acquired 47.8% of SSPC, a listed ERW steel pipe producer. With the acquisition of SSPC, the company also acquired a 35% share interest in GPC, a Saudi-German joint venture, established in 2010 and located in Jubail, Saudi Arabia, which manufactures LSAW pipes. In May 2023, SSPC increased its participation in GPC to 57.3% when the German shareholder in GPC decided to exit. In 2022, the company entered into a long-term agreement with Saudi Aramco for the supply of seamless OCTG products that prioritize local production where possible. In 2023, the company entered into a similar long-term agreement for LSAW OCTG products, while it also has medium-term supply agreements with Saudi Aramco for ERW OCTG and line pipe products. In 2024, the company had a record year of sales in Saudi Arabia as, in addition to deliveries under these agreements, it made deliveries pursuant to a tender that was awarded to replenish stocks of premium OCTG as Saudi Aramco increased its gas drilling activity.
In the United Arab Emirates, the company inaugurated an industrial complex with a newly constructed premium threading facility, dedicated training facilities, and an expanded service yard in February 2024. This followed the award, in August 2019, of a long-term agreement with Rig Direct conditions, valued at $1.9 billion, to supply approximately half of the OCTG requirements of Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (‘ADNOC’) in Abu Dhabi over the following five to seven years. At the end of 2024, ADNOC confirmed an extension to cover the full seven years as it confirmed an increase in drilling activity for 2025.
The company has a wide-ranging presence in the rest of the region, with industrial facilities in Indonesia, China, Kazakhstan, and Nigeria, and service centers in various additional countries.
The company’s sales in this region remain sensitive to international prices of oil and gas and their impact on drilling activities, as well as to the production policies pursued by the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), and, more recently, OPEC+ countries, many of whose members are located in this region. In the past few years, oil and gas producing countries in the Middle East, led by Saudi Arabia, have increased investments to develop gas reserves to fuel regional gas-based industrial development, which have positively affected their consumption of premium OCTG products. Saudi Arabia, in particular, is pursuing strong growth in conventional and unconventional gas drilling activity. The main national oil companies in the Gulf have also increased investments to add oil and LNG production capacity as they seek to accelerate the monetization of their oil and gas reserves, although Saudi Arabia announced in 2024 that it would curtail its oil production capacity expansion plans.
In North Africa, there have been significant discoveries and developments of offshore gas reserves in the Mediterranean in recent years, and international oil companies have made investments in the region. In sub-Saharan Africa, after several years of limited investments, international oil companies began to gradually increase their investments in exploration and production in offshore projects from 2022.
In the Caspian region, major oil companies operating in Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan increased their investments and drilling activity following a recovery of oil prices in 2017. In 2020 and 2021, however, the company’s sales were affected by the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the operations of its customers and the impact on drilling activity of adherence to the production cuts agreed by the OPEC+ countries in response to the collapse of oil demand due to the pandemic. Since then, drilling activity and its sales have remained at low levels.
In the past few years, uprisings have affected drilling activity in countries, such as Syria, Libya, and Yemen. In addition, for a number of years, the U.S. and the EU sanctions have affected production and exports in Iran.
In Indonesia and other markets in Southeast Asia and Oceania, drilling activity, particularly offshore drilling activity, is mainly affected by demand and prices for natural gas and LNG. The region is a major producer of natural gas and LNG, particularly for the energy-hungry economies of China and Northeast Asia.
The company’s sales in China are concentrated on premium OCTG products used in oil and gas drilling activities. Over the past 15 years, Chinese imports of OCTG products have remained at a very low level as local producers compete ferociously in an oversupplied market. The company continues, however, to seek new markets in niche applications, and in 2016, it opened a components facility for processing pipes for use in airbags for automobiles, which it has twice expanded. In 2020, the company established a joint venture with Baotou Steel, a major domestic supplier of seamless pipes to the onshore oil and gas fields, for the construction of a premium threading facility located within its partner’s steelmaking facilities in Inner Mongolia. The new facility, which finishes pipes produced mainly by its joint venture partner, began production during the first quarter of 2022. The company’s participation in the joint venture is 60%. During 2022, Baotou Steel and Baosteel International Group (‘Baosteel’) merged their seamless pipe businesses, but at the end of 2023, this merger was reversed, and the company has resumed operations with its original joint venture partner.
In Japan, the company’s former subsidiary, NKKTubes, competed against other domestic producers. In November 2022, the company entered into a definitive wrap-up agreement with JFE to terminate its joint venture and cease NKKTubes’ operations. The market for steel pipe products in Japan is mostly industrial and depends on general factors affecting domestic investment, including production activity. With the closure of manufacturing and production operations of NKKTubes in June 2022, the company has largely ceased to serve this market.
The company’s sales in the greater region could be adversely affected by political and other events in the region, such as armed conflicts, terrorist attacks, and social unrest, which could materially impact the operations of companies active in the region’s oil and gas industry. The company’s sales in the region can also be affected by the levels of inventories held by the principal national oil companies and their effect on purchasing requirements.
Sales in the region declined to a low level in 2021 as a result of various factors, including the slowdown in investments in drilling activity as a result of the pandemic, and reduction in oil demand and prices, and ongoing inventory reductions at some of the region’s largest consumers, such as Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. In 2022, the company’s sales in the region began to recover while, in 2023, the company’s sales benefited from a strong recovery in activity and inventory shortages. The company’s sales increased further in 2024, led by Saudi Arabia following a tender award to help Saudi Aramco to replenish inventory levels.
Others
The company’s other products and services include sucker rods used in oil extraction activities, oil and gas services, namely fracking and coiled tubing services in Argentina, sales of pipe for plumbing applications from the company’s Italian Piombino mill, coiled tubes used in oil and gas extraction activities, and sales of raw materials and energy that exceed its internal requirements.
On November 30, 2023, the company acquired the pipe coating business of Mattr, which has nine pipe coating facilities and two R&D centers around the world, and is a global leader in anti-corrosion and insulation coating for offshore pipelines. The acquired plants are complementary to the company’s coating plants in Argentina, Brazil, the United States, Italy, Nigeria, and Saudi Arabia.
Competition
The company’s principal competitors in steel pipe markets worldwide are Vallourec S.A. (‘Vallourec’); the U.S. Steel Corporation (‘U.S. Steel’); Japanese companies NSC and, to a lesser extent, JFE together; TMK, a Russian company; Jubail Energy Services Company (‘JESCO’); These include, in addition to TPCO, Boomerang LLC, a company formed by a former Maverick executive that opened a welded pipe mill in Liberty, Texas, now known as PTC Liberty Tubulars and part of the PTC Alliance; Benteler A.G. (‘Benteler’), a European seamless pipe producer that built a new seamless pipe mill in Louisiana, which opened in September 2015; and a plethora of welded pipe mills established by subsidiaries of foreign pipe producers, such as SeAH Steel (‘SeAH’), of Korea, and JSW Group (‘JSW’), of India; Benteler, Tubos Reunidos S.A. of Spain (‘Tubos Reunidos’), and Voest Alpine A.G. of Austria (‘Voest Alpine’); and ArcelorMittal.
Research and Development
In 2024, the company devoted $74 million to its research and development initiatives.
Supplier
In 2020, the company established a joint venture with Baotou Steel, a major domestic supplier of seamless pipes to the onshore oil and gas fields, for the construction of a premium threading facility located within the company’s partner’s steelmaking facilities in Inner Mongolia.
For the company’s welded pipe operations in the United States, a significant part of its requirements for steel coils are supplied by Nucor Steel, which is its principal supplier in the United States.
In Canada, the company has restarted negotiations with the main local suppliers to reach long-term agreements for its welded pipe operations. Among such suppliers are ArcelorMittal Dofasco, which has steel coil manufacturing facilities in Hamilton, Ontario, and Algoma Steel, which has steel coil manufacturing facilities in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario.
Tecpetrol S.A. (‘Tecpetrol’), a San Faustin subsidiary, is the company’s main natural gas supplier in Argentina under market conditions and according to local regulations.
History
Tenaris S.A. was founded in 2001. The company was incorporated in 2001.
