ARCHIVESHISTORIQUES
DELACOMMISSION
COLLECTION RELIEEDES
DOCUMENTS "COM"
COM(76)377
Vol.1976/0115

Disclaimer
Conformément aurèglement(CEE,Euratom)n°354/83duConseildu1erfévrier1983
concernantl'ouvertureaupublicdesarchiveshistoriquesdelaCommunauté économique
européenneetdelaCommunautéeuropéennedel'énergieatomique(JOL43du15.2.1983,
p.1),telquemodifiéparlerèglement(CE,Euratom)n°1700/2003du22septembre2003
(JOL243du27.9.2003,p.1),cedossierestouvertaupublic.Lecaséchéant,lesdocuments
classifiésprésentsdanscedossierontétédéclassifiésconformément àl'article5dudit
règlement.
InaccordancewithCouncilRegulation(EEC,Euratom)No354/83of1February1983
concerningtheopeningtothepublicofthehistoricalarchivesoftheEuropeanEconomic
CommunityandtheEuropeanAtomicEnergyCommunity(OJL43,15.2.1983,p.1),as
amendedbyRegulation(EC,Euratom)No1700/2003of22September2003(OJL243,
27.9.2003,p.1),thisfileisopentothepublic.Wherenecessary,classifieddocumentsinthis
filehavebeendeclassified inconformitywithArticle5oftheaforementioned regulation.
InÜbereinstimmung mitderVerordnung(EWG,Euratom)Nr.354/83desRatesvom1.
Februar1983überdieFreigabederhistorischen ArchivederEuropäischen
Wirtschaftsgemeinschaft undderEuropäischen Atomgemeinschaft (ABI.L43vom15.2.1983,
S.1),geändertdurchdieVerordnung(EG,Euratom)Nr.1700/2003vom22.September2003
(ABI.L243vom27.9.2003,S.1),istdieseDateiderÖffentlichkeitzugänglich.Soweit
erforderlich,wurdendieVerschlusssachen indieserDateiinÜbereinstimmung mitArtikel5
dergenanntenVerordnungfreigegeben.

COMMISSION OFTHEEUROPEAN COMMUNITIES
COM(76)377 final
Brussels,16July1976
Requestforanassent,pursuanttoArticle56oftheECSCTreaty,
foragrantofaredevelopment loantoNATURALGASTUBE'SLTD.(UK)
(Communication fromtheCommission totheCouncil)
i
\
\
C0M(76)377final

COMMUNICATION TOTHECOUNCIL
Subject:Requestforanassent,pursuanttoArticle5°oftheECSCTreaty,
foragrantofaredevelopment loantoNATURALGASTUBESLTD.(UK)
I.ESSEETTIAL INFORMATION
Applicant ;
Beneficiary :
Projeôt:
Location:
Investment :
Loanrequested :
Jobscreated:NaturalGasTubes,Ltd.(UK)
NaturalGasTubes,Ltd.(UK)
Construction ofaspiralweldoilla"Bari
extensiontotheapplicant'0wol&etlttubeplant
Tafarnaubach IndustrialEstate,EbbwVale,
S.Wales
642f744EUA(£406f800)
0,22nillionEUA'(±£136.000)
18jobsofwhich12willbeofferedin
prioritytoex-ECSCworkersofBritish
SteelCorporation'sEbbwValeworks.
II.ADMISSIBILITY
Theplannedreductioninlabourrequirements atBritishSteelCorp.,
EbbwValework:?,/'.'.nnr-Ofrabout1900workersredundantin1975*The
applicantisamongthefirmswhichhasacceptedtholocationat
Tafarnaubach IndustrialEstateinordertoutilisepartofthework
forcebeingmaderedundantbytheBSCclosures.Theapplicantagrees
togiveprioritytotherecruitmentofex-ECSCworkers,forwhichitis
expectedthat100outof120postswillbefilledbyex-steelworkersfortheweldedsteeltubeplanttobecommissionedinmid–l^j6tand
forwhichtheCommissiongrantedanECSCreconversionloanof
£950,000inDecember1975.Ofatotalof18newjobstobeoreated
12willbeofferedinprioritytoex-steelworkers.

-2-
III.THEUNDERTAKING
Description; NaturalGasTubesLimited
LégalStatus; LimitedCompany
Established : 1966
AdministrativeHeadquarter s;London
Registeredcapital;£600,000
IV.THEPROJECT
Itisproposedtoinstallaspiralweldmillasanextensiontothe
operationoftheweldedtubemill.Spacefortheinstallation ofthe
spiralweldmillhasbeenprovidedinthebuildingplansforthe
weldedtubemillandtheonlyadditionalcostsinvolvedarethoseof
.plantandequipmentandinstallation expenses.Theslitterinstalled
fortheweldedtubemillcanbeusedtoslitthecoilsforthespiral
weldmillanditistheintentionthattheproductionofbothplants
shouldrunasanintegratedoperation.
Theplantandequipmentwillconsistofthespiralweldmill,anend
faoingmachineandtestingrig.Itisassumedthattheplantvrfllbe
deliveredinMarch19771commissioned inJuly1977*
V.THEMARKET
Thenowplantwillhavethecapacitytomanufacturetubesinthe
range10"-40"withthicknessupto3/8"andfacilitiestotesta
proportionofthisoutptuit„Ithasbeenestimatedthatanannual
marketof50»000tonnesintheUKwillbeavailablein1978for
productsinthisrangesTheoutputofthencx*plantof3,600tonnes
perannumrepresents7i°ofthisestimatedmarket.Inaddition,the
newcapacitywillenablethecompanytobidforexportorders.
VI.SOCIALASPECTS
IthasbeenagreedwiththeIronandSteelTradeConfederation that
thisunionwillberecognised ,whichmeansthatpreferencetowork
forcewillbegiventoredundantsteelworkersfromEbbwVale.
AretrainingprogrammeisbeingdevisedincooperationwithBritish
SteelCorporationandtheEmploymentServicesAgent(Departmentof
Industry)•

VII.FBTANCIAL ASPECTS
Thesummarinedfinancingplanfortheptfojedtibasfollowsfor
1976/7^s
£'000 £'000
Plantandmachinery 406.8Ownresources 121.9
Working 254,8Opérâtingsurplus 125.2
RegionalDevelopment
Grant 88.0
ECSCloan 136.0
Long-termBankloan190.5
Total 661.6 661.6
tseacsa
Withabout30percentofthecostofthofixedinvestmentbeing
provided>"thofirm'srcsouroesthoplancanberegardedas
acceptable *
VIII.CONCLUSIONS
(&)TheCommission ,considersthattherequestcomplieswith
Article56oftheECSCTreatyandthattheproposedinvestment
iseconomically sound.InconsequencetheCommissionhas
approvedaloantoNaturalGasTubesLimitedforamaximumamount
of0,22nf.llion'MJA(£136,000)oritsequivalentvaltto.
Foranamountofupto0,22rruEUAtherateofinterestwillbe
reducedby3percentagepointsforthefirstfiveyearsafter
i'iepaymentorpayments.
(b)TheCommissioninvitestheCounciltogiveitsassenttotho
foregoingdecision.