Mexican steel pipe manufacturers petitioned the federal government last week, asking that the second phase of The Ramones pipeline project include at least 50 percent of steel pipe manufactured in Mexico.
Teodoro Gonzalez, CEO of Monterrey-based Tubacero, noted that Mexican companies have the capacity to meet the project's second-phase pipe needs. "We are able, depending on the weather, but there are times right now we have the capacity to supply 100 percent of the project," he said.
Phase II of The Ramones will stretch 740 kilometers and will cover the states of Nuevo Leon, Tamaulipas, San Luis Potosi, Queretaro and Guanajuato; along with the pipeline to be developed in the United States, The Ramones will be the largest energy infrastructure project the country in the last 40 years.
Gonzalez said that in the case of projects of the Federal Electricity Commission (CFE), all projects contained 50 percent of lead pipe manufactured in Mexico. "We are fighting to somehow have local content, we want at least 50 percent--there is sufficient capacity in Mexico," he said.
With the implementation of AHMSA's Phoenix in July, Mexican steel may be used in the pipeline project. Gonzalez stressed that The Ramones project is extremely important for businesses in Mexico in terms of kilometers, diameters, and tons of pipe used, and it would be "terribly sad" if Mexican firms do not participate.
