History of Techint Group

Techint is an Italian-Argentinian conglomerate that was founded in 1945 by Italian industrialist Agostino Rocca. The firm is headquartered in Milan and in Buenos Aires. The company's two main steel divisions are Tenaris, which produces steel tube; and Ternium, which produces flat and long products.

The Techint Group produced almost 15 mt of liquid steel in 2022, making it the 26th largest steelmaker worldwide. Currently, with its subsidiaries, Techint is the largest steelmaker in Argentina.

The timeline below covers the history of the firm.

1945: Techint founded in 1945 by industrialist Agostino Rocca.
1949: Awarded contract to build 1600 km Argentinian gas pipeline.
1954: Builds seamless tube plants in Mexico & Argentina
1968: Builds its first cold-rolled steel plant in Ensenada.
1986: Acquires Siat, an Argentian producer of welded tube.
1992: Acquires state-owned Somisa steel company in Argentina.
1993: Through Siderca, acquires controlling interest in Tamsa
1996: Acquires a controlling interest in Italy's Dalmine.
1998: Tamsa establishes Tavsa with Corporacion Venezolana de Guayana.
1998: Sidor Venezuela is privatized. Techint Group consortium wins tender.
2000: Siderca leases Algoma Steel's seamless steel tube plant in Canada.
2002: Tenaris S.A., new holding company, founded in Luxembourg.
2004: Tenaris gets control of Silcotub seamless steel pipe in Romania.
2005: Techint Group acquires Hylsa in Mexico.
2006: Ternium begins trading on New York Stock Exchange.
2006: Expands presence in USA, Canada and Colombia via Maverick Tube Corp.
2007: Expands oil and gas industry presence with acquisition of Hydril.
2008: Tenaris sets up new threading facility in Qingdao, China.
2008: Government of Venezuela announces the nationalization of Sidor.
2010: Tenaris invests in new premium threading facility in Saudi Arabia.
2011: Tenaris opens new rolling mill in Veracruz, Mexico.
2012: Tenaris and Ternium join up with Usiminas, and Nippon Steel.
2014: New OCTG threading facility for OCTG inaugurated in Ecuador.
2016: Premium threading facility inaugurated by Tenaris in Kazakhstan.
2017: Inaugurates greenfield 600kt seamless pipe mill in Bay City, Texas.
2017: Ternium completes acquisition of CSA in Brazil.
2018: Tenaris agrees to acquire ~48% of shares of Saudi Steel Pipe.
2019: Tenaris announces $240m Siberian welded pipe jv with Severstal.
2020: Completes acquisition of IPSCO Tubulars from TMK.
2020: Ternium’s Board of Directors signals full support for Chairman.
2021: Announces 2030 decarbonization plans for different business units.
2023: Increases ownership stake in Usiminas.
2023: Announces Pesquería, Nuevo León, Mexico as location of new slab mill.

Notes

Agostino Rocca was a key force behind the development of the Italian steel industry in the 1930s.
1949: Techint took on the role of leading government contractor during Peron's ambitious infrastructure-building programme in Argentina.
1954: The first two seamless steel tube plants built by Technint, both commissioned in 1954, included the Tamsa facility in Veracruz (Mexico) and the Siderca plant in Campana (Argentina).
1969: The newly-built steel cold-rolling facility in Ensenada, Argentina is known as Propulsora Siderurgica.
1986: Siat, a regional supplier of oil and gas pipelines, operated a 350 kt / year welded tube mill in Santa Fe. The business was established in 1948 and acquired in 1986 by Siderca.
1992: Assets of Somisa were then combined by Techint with those of Propulsora Siderurgica, to create Siderar.
1996: Stake in Dalmine was acquired following its privatisation. Dalmine begun operations in 1909 and Agostino Rocca was its Managing Director prior to founding the Techint Group.
1998: Tavsa denotes 'Tubos de Acero de Venezuela S.A.'
1998: Acquirer of Sidor was the Amazonia Consortium, a group comprising the Techint Group, Hylsamex and Usiminas.
2000: The leased facilities were renamed Algoma Tube. Seamless tube products were later branded under the Tenaris name.
2002: Formation of Tenaris S.A. involved equity exchange for shares of Siderca, Tamsa and Dalmin. Tenaris S.A. was simultaneously listed on New York, Milan, Buenos Aires, and Mexican stock exchanges.
2005: Note that Hylsa was later involved in the creation of Ternium which was formed in 2005 from a consolidation of three companies: Siderar of Argentina, Sidor of Venezuela and Hylsa of Mexico.
2006: Tenaris S.A. and Maverick Tube Corporation announced their merger agreement in mid-2016. This agreement saw Tenaris acquire Maverick in a transaction valued at US$3185 million (including Maverick net debt).
2007: Hydril was a leading North American manufacturer of premium connections and pressure control products for oil and gas drilling and production.
2008: The new Chinese threading plant was named Tenaris Qingdao Steel Pipes Ltd.
2010: Successful operation of the comapny's new Saudi Arabia threading plant [and the ability to serve Saudi Aramco] meant that Tenaris had to obtain the relevant quality certifications. The requisite approvals included quality certifications of the Lloyd’s Register Quality Assurance (ISO) and the American Petroleum Institute (API).
2012: The original idea was for Ternium to acquire a $2 billion plus stake in Brazilian rival Usiminas, with Ternium and Tenaris together controlling 43.3 percent of the voting rights, and with Nippon Steel controlling ~46% control, in a deal devised (at least in part) to frustrate Companhia Siderurgica Nacional's (CSN's) intended acquisition of Usiminas.
2017: CSA denotes Companhia Siderurgica do Atlantico. After its acqusition this advanced 5 mt / year slab plant was renamed Ternium Brasil.
2019: Tenaris' Russian joint venture with Severstal was to build a welded pipe plant to produce OCTG products in the Surgut area of West Siberia. Tenaris was to have a 49% interest in the joint venture company, with Severstal owning the remaining 51% of the equity.
2020: IPSCO Tubulars deal with TMK was initially signed in March 2019. When finalised in early-2020, the transaction was worth $1.1bn [cash-free and debt-free but including $220m of working capital]. The deal added IPSCO’s steel shop in Koppel, Pennsylvania, to Tenaris’ network. The Koppel facility is the first Tenaris plant in the USA to produce steel bars.
2020: An Italian court investigating alleged improper payments made in Brazil for the possible benefit of Tenaris S.A. decided in 2018 to move the case to trial, involving Chairman Paolo Rocca. The allegations related to bribes ostensibly paid to speed up the compensation payments associated with nationalization of SIDOR by the Venezuelan government. In April 2019, the Argentine court of appeals dropped all the charges against Paolo Rocca, fully clearing him.
2021: Tenaris plan is for a 30% reduction in carbon emissions intensity by 2030 (from 2018 base). Ternium plan is for a 20% lowering in CO₂ emissions over this period.
2023: 68.7 million ordinary shares of Usinas Siderurgicas de Minas Gerais Usiminas were acquired from Nippon Steel and Sumitomo Metal Corporation, Mitsubishi and MetalOne (NSC group).
2023: New state-of-the-art Ternium slab mill will complement the company’s new hot rolling mill in Pesquería, which began operations in mid-2021, as well as its downstream project at the same site, which is currently under construction. The new facility will also be equipped with the latest technologies to accelerate Ternium's ongoing commitment to sustainability, including carbon capture capabilities and readiness to switch from natural gas to hydrogen use for DRI production. Slab mill start-up is expected in H1 2026.

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