Vallourec to Cut Jobs in Europe, China, Brazil

YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio – Vallourec SA, the parent of pipe and tube manufacturer Vallourec Star, reports that it plans to cut more than 2,600 jobs and raise $1.08 billion in an effort to adjust to the slumping oil and gas market.

However, Jean Gaetano, local spokeswoman for Vallourec Star, says the cuts won’t impact the operations here.

“These initiatives mainly affect Vallourec operations in Europe, China and Brazil,” she wrote in an email response to The Business Journal. “There is no direct impact to Vallourec Star’s Youngstown operations.”

The Youngstown plant last year went through two rounds of layoffs at its pipe-manufacturing complex along Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard.

The company manufactures oil country tubular goods, or OCTG, pipe for the oil and gas industry. That industry has been crippled by falling oil and gas prices that have yet to rebound.

Vallourec reported that 2,150 positions would be eliminated in Europe, where the company plans to slash 50% of capacity, along with another 500 jobs gone in other countries, mainly Brazil.

“Our plan significantly adjusts our industrial footprint in Europe, to address overcapacity and focus on highly specialized activities in France and Germany,” Vallourec CEO Philippe Crouzet said in a statement.

Simultaneously, Vallourec said it would raise $1.08 billion in capital, some of which would be used to assist with acquiring a controlling interest in Tianda Oil Pipe, a Chinese seamless steel tube manufacturer. Vallourec says that deal should cost $175 million.

Copyright 2024 The Business Journal, Youngstown, Ohio.