On 7 April the American Line Pipe Producers Association (ALPPA), and its individual members – Stupp Corporation, American Steel Pipe, Berg Pipe, and Dura-Bond – submitted comments to the US Department of Commerce (DoC) in support of President Trump’s 24 January memorandum promoting the use of domestically produced pipe in new, retrofitted, repaired, or expanded pipelines in the United States.
The four member companies of ALPPA represent more than 2,500 manufacturing jobs (at full production levels) and a majority of US line pipe production, and are strongly in favour of requiring the use of domestic line pipe in the construction of American pipelines.
The ALPPA believes that requiring the use of domestic line pipe will allow domestic producers to utilise existing unused capacity instead of continuing to lose market share to imports of large-diameter line pipe, which is often sold at dumped and subsidised prices. This in turn, it is claimed, will create thousands of jobs and incentivise research and development and significant capital investment in the United States, strengthening not only the domestic line pipe industry, but the entire US manufacturing industry – and by extension, the US economy.
In its submission to the DoC, ALPPA commented that the domestic line pipe industry has more than sufficient capacity to meet domestic demand, and can supply a full range of line pipe products, arguing that “domestic supply has consistently exceeded domestic demand and consumption of large diameter line pipe since 2009.”
“Our members are among the most competitive and highly skilled line pipe producers in the world, and stand ready to work closely with pipeline operators to ensure that all of their volume and production needs are met,” the ALPPA concluded in its submission.
In its submission the ALPPA added that it looks forward to working closely with the Administration and all companies in the line pipe supply chain to support domestic manufacturing and US job growth.