CHICAGO — TPCO America Corp. plans to have pipe- and end-finishing operations up and running by early next summer at its site in Gregory, Texas, a company spokeswoman told AMM.

In addition, site preparation for the company’s planned rolling mill and electric-arc furnace (EF) is expected to begin in early 2013, with production slated for the end of 2014, she said Wednesday.

That work had initially been planned for November but was pushed back due to poor weather, she said.

"The focus is still construction," she said. "A year ago, you couldn’t buy rain. But it has been a very rainy fall, and that has slowed things down."

TPCO is also in the process of selecting a design team to build offices at the mill site that will serve as the company’s headquarters, the spokeswoman said.

The company has said finishing and threading operations would represent the first phase of vertical construction and are expected to be followed by construction of the rolling mill and EF (amm.com, March 9).

TPCO selected the Gregory site for the pipe mill in July 2008. The company broke ground in August on the $1-billion seamless pipe facility, which is expected to have an annual capacity of 500,000 tonnes (amm.com, Aug. 31, 2011).