Toronto’s Shawcor investing $60 million in two new U.S. plants

In a move that expands its capabilities in producing spoolable composite pipe and underground fuel and water storage tanks, Toronto-based infrastructure supplier Shawcor Ltd. has announced plans to invest US$60 million to add plants in Texas and South Carolina.

The new Texas plant will manufacture the company’s Flexpipe flexible fibreglass reinforced composite pipe used for oil and gas gathering and water disposal lines, carbon dioxide injection lines, and other applications requiring corrosion resistance and high-pressure capabilities.

The plant in South Carolina, meanwhile, will be a production facility for Shawcor’s Xerxes business, which manufactures fibreglass reinforced plastic underground storage tanks, primarily used within the retail fuel, storm water, and wastewater markets.

Both facilities are expected to be operational by the end of 2024 and to approach normalized levels of production in 2026, when their combined capacity will be able to generate more than $100 million in incremental revenue annually, Shawcor said in an April 26 news release.

“These substantial organic investments are an important part of our overall strategy to elevate returns for the entire organization,” Martin Perez, president of Shawcor’s composite systems segment, said in release. “The strategic placement of these new facilities positions our Flexpipe business closer to our U.S. customer base and expands Xerxes’ ability to serve the eastern-U.S. market with underground storage tanks. The added scale will serve to unlock additional revenue generating capacity, and the efficiencies of these new plants should, over time, enhance the margin profile of the segment.”