1. T H E VA L L O U R E C & M A N N E S M A N N T U B E S M A G A Z I N E
Vallourec Group D e c emb e r 2 0 0 6 - N o . 1 8
APPLICATION
Fine-grain steel tubes
for large cranes
BOUS STEELWORKS
Dependable
steel supplies
CUSTOMER PORTRAIT
Luxury liners made
by Meyer Werft
New plant opened in Changzhou
Another Chinese
dragon comes to life

2. New plant opened in Changzhou
Another Chinese dragon
comes to life
The Chinese dragons held still while Wang Weichang, Mayor of the ambitious Chinese metropolis of Changzhou,
and Pierre Verluca, Chairman of the Management Board of Vallourec, painted an eye on them, bringing them to
life in so doing. This tradition was re-enacted on 29 September 2006 at the official opening ceremony of the
new V & M TUBES finishing plant for seamless steel tubes. Afterwards, a surprise awaited the invited guests: the
special occasion was celebrated in true Chinese style with table fireworks, crackers and streamers to mark the
cutting of the red ribbon.
This is the second production site
that the Vallourec Group has
set up in Changzhou. In 1996,
the Stainless Steel Division opened
Changzhou Valinox Great Wall Co. Ltd.
Now VALLOUREC & MANNES-MANN
TUBES has officially opened
its new mill, VALLOUREC & MANNES-MANN
CHANGZHOU Co Ltd. Here
seamless steel tubes, mainly from the
two Düsseldorf works in Rath and
Reisholz, are finished before delivery to
the customers.
Meanwhile, Vallourec and its subsidia-ries
are already planning further projects
in Changzhou. An investment running
into millions was announced only one
day before the opening ceremony at the
new plant. In October, V & M TUBES'
OCTG (Oil Country Tubular Goods)
Division will start to build a threading
shop which is scheduled to start up as
early as mid-2007. Nor are further
investments by any means ruled out.
FAVOURABLE
INVESTMENT CLIMATE
The opening celebrations for the fini-shing
plant started on the eve of the
big day with a festive dinner for the
customers and representatives who had
made the journey. When the heavens
opened on the day itself, the huge
marquee at the works entrance was a
welcoming shelter for the 300 or so
guests at the ceremony. In his speech,
Pierre Verluca revealed why the Group
had chosen Changzhou in particular for
its all-important investments in the
Chinese market. "The presence of
trained workers and the good infra-structure
tip the scales in favour of
Changzhou and create an outstanding
climate for the Group's future invest-ments
in China, too."
M I L L N E W S
Wang Weichang,
Mayor of the city
of Changzhou, paints
an eye on the dragon
to bring it to life.
Mayor Wang
Weichang, Chairman of
the Management Board
Pierre Verluca and COO
Francois Fabre (l. to r.)
cut the red ribbon to
officially open the
works.
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3. is an investment in the future – for it
strengthens our creativity and competi-tive
strength on the Chinese market."
At present, capacity working at the plant
is also assured, with orders already on
the books for the 4th quarter of 2007.
VALLOUREC'S SONS TO
THRIVE AND PROSPER
"Changzhou is a window to China and
we are keen to incorporate interna-tional
investments in our development
strategy," said Mayor Wang Weichang.
international and customer-specific
quality standards, just like with past
deliveries from Europe. This is no
problem for production in China, since
the plant is integrated into the Group's
international management system. Full
certification under ISO 9000 is anti-cipated
by the end of 2006.
Dr Marco Antônio Castello Branco,
member of the Vallourec Management
Board and head of the Hot Rolled Tubes
division at V & M TUBES, summed up
the advantages of the new works: "This
This shop houses not only drills and lathes but also internal
and external grinders, saws and testing equipment.
This second plant in Changzhou
further bonded the long-term business
relationship with the Chinese customers
and partners and evidenced the Chinese
market's outstanding position in the
pipe and tube business, said Verluca,
looking forward to future partnerships:
"We want to go on expanding our pre-sence
in China and secure our customer
relationships over the long term."
TRAINING IN DÜSSELDORF
The workforce at the new Changzhou
plant was trained in the Düsseldorf-
Reisholz mill, where the same facilities
for finish-machining tubes have been in
operation for years. The Chinese cus-tomers,
mainly from the power-plant
Investments in the
new Chinese works
totalled some
30 million euros.
(l. to r.) Dr Marco
Antônio Castello
Branco, member of
the Vallourec
Management Board
and head of the Hot
Rolled Tubes Division
at V & M TUBES,
Dr Christoph Prasser,
Vallourec, Vice-
President, Technology
and Investments,
Serge Vandroux,
manager of the new
works, Alain Honnart,
member of the
Vallourec Executive
Commitee, Rainer
Lenzen, department
leader Industry
and Vincent Delcour,
and mechanical engineering sectors,
expect compliance with all national, •••
head of the sales
division Powergen
of V & M TUBES.
V & M R E P O R T N O . 1 8 - D E C E M B E R 2 0 0 6 5

4. The hydrostatic The internal grinding machines are fitted with dust extractors made in China.
tester can
accommodate
tubes in diameters
of 300 to 1100
millilmetres.
GLOBALITY REFLECTED
IN THE MACHINES
AND EQUIPMENT
A tour of the plant revealed a striking
assortment of machines from different
sources, both European brands and
domestic Chinese makes. They include
drilling machines and turning lathes,
internal and external grinding machines,
saws and test benches. The capital
The 100-strong workforce at the
new plant in Changzhou comprises
largely graduates from the city's
universities and colleges.
M I L L N E W S
Depicting his city's plans for the future,
he was not shy about drawing compa-risons
with V & M TUBES' German
mills. "The facilities I visited in
Düsseldorf in 2005 were excellent
and the products fabricated there are
of high quality. But the new plant in
Changzhou is simply more beautiful
and more modern than the traditional
facilities in Europe," said the self-confident
Mayor. Vallourec and V & M
TUBES had now given birth to Chinese
sons and the city of Changzhou would
take over a fostering role and do its bit
to ensure that the offspring thrive and
prosper. Weichang's vision of the future
is long-term: "Changzhou is a good
place for children, and we will do
our utmost to help the children grow
into adults who, in the future, will them-selves
give birth to children and grand-children."
•••
The office
building’s
entrance.
Visitors on a tour of
the workshops were
very impressed by
the production facilities.
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5. expenditure for all this ran to some
30 million euros and the result is a plant
that can handle about 20,000 tonnes
of tube a year.
Serge Vandroux, the works manager, was
proud to show off the latest modern
offices for the bookkeeping, quality
management, job scheduling, and all the
other departments needed in the admi-nistration
section of the new building.
A REAL GEM
The plant's green surroundings are
still not quite finished, but the little
garden and an attractively designed
entrance area are real gems. This is
thanks not least to the MSH sections
The tube surface
is machined
on this turning
lathe. from V & M TUBES which allowed
a particularly quick construction and
filigree design. A tour of the new work-shops
cleanness and the pleasant atmosphere
there.
At the concluding lunch, a further per-sonnel
Wilfried Schmidt, plant manager of
the tube mill in Düsseldorf Reisholz,
succeeds Dr Christoph Prasser as
chairman of the management board of
V & M CHANGZHOU Ltd. Dr Prasser
had accompanied the setting up of the
new company and will now concentrate
on his activities as Vice-President, Tech-nology
What makes Changzhou so inter-esting
for foreign investors? The
3.5-million city lies in the Yangtze
Delta Region in the Yunlong
District, on the main railway link
between Shanghai and Beijing. A
local airport 15 kilometres outside
the city offers flights to Beijing,
Guangzhou and other major
Chinese cities. The city itself
has an area of some 4,375
square kilometres.
Changzhou was originally
famous for its comb manu-facturing,
but today it's a favoured location for a diversified
range of industries, in particular mechanical engineering,
metallurgy and agricultural machines but also the automotive
and the textile industries.
Changzhou is also interesting as an academic city with univer-sities
such as the Jiangsu University of Science and Technology
producing more than 20,000 well trained graduates every year.
The ultrasonic test facility detects
even hidden defects.
left the visitors impressed by the
appointment was announced:
and Investments of Vallourec.
After the celebrations, a last look into
the workshops in the early afternoon
reveals how few people are left there.
Employees with cases, however, are
gathered in front of the works building
and two buses are waiting at the gate.
Asked the reason, works manager Serge
Vandroux explains: "We are off now
on a four-day trip. The aim is to
further heighten the workforce's team
spirit and loyalty through a variety
of different exercises." For further
surprises from the Chinese V & M
TUBES team in the future, as they say,
watch this space! (BS)
Modernisation in the city took a tremendous leap forward under
China's 10th Five-Year Plan. Today, Changzhou is one of China's
top 40 cities with the best investment climates. Shipping on the
Yangtze River, good road and rail connections and the national
airport have helped here. The city can look back over 2500 years
of history. Its Dinosaur Park is a great tourist attraction, showing
fossil finds from all over China. Another magnet for tourists is
the Tianning Temple, whose 153.79-metre pagoda is the highest in
the world.
Changzhou
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