A Vallourec Will Provide Tubular Solutions for the State-Owned Company and Makes a Giant Leap in Its Business in Brazil in the Pre-Salt Area

Being one of the big players in the tubular solutions industry, Vallourec is now smiling broadly with a contract it won with Petrobras to supply products in its category focusing on the Brazilian pre-salt. It had already set up a factory in the state of Minas Gerais and had been supplying other companies, but it ended up seeing the potential that the Brazilian oil market had, participated in some competitions, and now the fruits of its labor are evident. It has been exporting much of what is produced on Brazilian soil to abroad, but according to Vallourec’s executive, Hildeu Dellaretti, the focus will be on the country itself from now on.

In fact, this contract signed with Petrobras is an extension of another that already existed earlier; it decided to face the technological challenges of producing products to work beneath the salt layer and operate in extreme temperature and pressure conditions, and it accepted the challenge. Petrobras received the message and ended up giving a vote of confidence to Vallourec, which is now one of the giants in Brazilian territory in its field.

Nowadays, it supplies tubular products from its premium line to almost all offshore operators in Brazil, but it also has a strong presence in the construction, naval, structural, light machinery, automotive, agricultural machinery, and now pre-salt solutions sectors. Dellaretti states that Brazil is now a major business hub, mainly in supplying pipes for thermoelectric plants, petrochemical facilities, and other onshore interconnection needs.

The fact is that Vallourec like other multinational companies, is seeing Brazil as a very promising and profitable market, facilitated by the new local content rules. Many are complaining that we have the “syndrome of surrender,” but is it really that bad to let other companies do what we are not capable of in order to recover our economic stability?