New large outside-diameter spiral-weld pipe mills are trucking right along with big plans to add new tons—market downturn and concerns about overcapacity be damned. Although delays have bogged down some projects, executives remain generally bullish, at least for 2009.

At the same time, at least one spiral-weld pipe mill executive is keeping one eye on imports with the other on a possible trade case. He also acknowledges that competition could be fierce when all the new spiral-weld mills come on-line, even if the market does rebound.

Potential new U.S. capacity adds up to a whopping 1.84 million tons. Here's where things stand in large OD U.S. pipe mill land:

• Berg Spiral Pipe, a subsidiary of Berg Steel Pipe Corp., is in the final phase of commissioning its mill in Mobile, Ala., according to David Delie, Berg Steel Pipe's president and chief executive officer.

The mill's equipment is installed, and Berg Spiral Pipe should begin commercial production and shipping by the end of March, Delie said. "Things are going good. We're moving right along. But it's always slower than you want trying to commission...