Wednesday, 9 September 2026

Vallourec has signed an agreement with Saudi Aramco covering the supply of Oil Country Tubular Goods (OCTG), according to Offshore Engineer OEDigital. The two companies concluded the deal during the French-Saudi Investment Roundtable Meeting in Paris, a step Offshore Engineer OEDigital reports is intended to strengthen their commercial, industrial and technological cooperation.

The new contract extends a supply relationship that dates back to 1962, when Vallourec and Aramco first agreed on deliveries of early generations of VAM connections for OCTG pipes, Offshore Engineer OEDigital reported.

Vallourec moved production into the kingdom in 2011 with the creation of Vallourec Saudi Arabia and the opening of an industrial site in Dammam handling pipe heat treatment and the threading of premium VAM connections, according to the same report. That local footprint underpinned a long-term deal signed in 2022 for the supply of locally manufactured premium OCTG pipes to Aramco, on which the latest agreement builds.

Philippe Guillemot, Chairman and CEO of Vallourec, said the agreement reflects the mutual trust between the two industrial groups and further strengthens their ties.

Suniva has closed a USD 835 million capital raise to fund a 4.5 GW solar cell plant in Laurens County, South Carolina, according to pv magazine. The cells will be made inside a 620,000 square-foot building now under construction.

The project itself carries a total cost of USD 600 million, pv magazine reported, and Suniva expects to need 564 manufacturing workers once the plant is fully operational.

Suniva says the site is expected to open in late 2027, with production ramping toward full capacity the following year.

Added to the company's existing 1 GW plant in Norcross, Georgia, the new line takes Suniva's annual cell capacity to 5.5 GW, per pv magazine.

The buildout lands against a tightened import regime. Under the Section 232 trade action, imported solar cells face a minimum import price of 22 cents per watt, with ad valorem tariffs of 15% stacked on top, according to pv magazine.