At the beginning of 2021, SMS group carried out one of the most complex transport jobs of the last few years. The world's largest continuous ERW welded tube plant had to be transported to our customer Zekelman Industries in the USA. The biggest challenge: the enormous weight of more than 500 tons in total.
With the new 28-inch ERW welded tube plant, Zekelman Industries will be able to produce more than 400,000 tons per year while expanding its product portfolio to include 28-inch tubes. After pre-assembly in Germany, the plant went on its journey to Blytheville (Arkansas) in early January. The COVID-19 pandemic and the resulting travel restrictions and quarantine arrangements posed an additional challenge. This meant that during the loading processes, the project team could only be on site with a reduced number of employees – and beyond that, relied on local support.