Clayton celebrates £4.5m steel deals

Clayton Walker Gasholders, the Wakefield-based subsidiary of Scottish firm Motherwell Bridge, has secured contracts with Tata Steel to oversee the construction of two gasholders in India.

Clayton Walker, which dates from 1837, specialises in the design and on-site construction of gasholder storage and recovery systems for the global steel industry.

The company has been appointed as technology provider on a project which will see Tata Steel expand the capacity of its Jamshedpur facility in India by three million tonnes a year.

Apart from designing a new steelmaking gasholder, Clayton Walker will also be responsible for designing the world's largest single dry seal type gasholder, which is due to become operational in 2013.

Clayton Walker will design the gasholders and provide components such as the seals.

It will also provide technical advisory services during the construction, seal installation, testing and commissioning phases of the gasholders.

The company will work with staff from the Modern India Construction Company, its long-standing Indian partner, who will be responsible for erecting all the steelwork.

The company has also secured contracts to supply replacement gasholder seals and ancillary equipment at two major steel plants in Brazil.

Clayton Walker has been awarded the contracts by ArcelorMittal Tubarao in Vitoria and USIMINAS in Ipatinga, who are overseeing the refurbishment of their blast furnace gasholders.

Russell Ward, the chief executive of Motherwell Bridge, which is based in Lanarkshire, Scotland, said: "We have had a presence in India for more than 100 years and see it as a very important market for Motherwell Bridge.

"Securing a contract from a company of Tata Steel's stature will not only help strengthen our position in the country, but it will serve as a strong endorsement of our capabili-ties.

"We have extensive experience in the design and construction of gasholder storage systems and our proven track record has played a key role in helping us secure contracts across the globe, including India and now Brazil.

"We have been experiencing an upturn in demand in recent months and these contracts, which are in excess of 4.5m, are a welcome boost to our order book.

"Earlier this year, our bulk storage division secured a multi-million pound contract to design and build two storage tanks for INEOS, the world's third largest chemicals group, and we're currently working to identify and develop other opportunities in the Middle East."

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