A very large and well known petroleum company was in the planning stages of a large project that required a specialty welding alloy. This alloy had previously been manufactured by a well-known welding alloy manufacturer for this specific petroleum company. However, due to low demand and relatively high cost of the alloy, the manufacturer discontinued the product.

In mid-2014, the petroleum company quickly realized stock of this alloy was depleted and not available from anyone – anywhere. The project was scheduled to start in early 2015, so the alloy had to be delivered by January. They contacted both the original manufacturer and EUROWELD to inquire about having a special alloy batch produced. EUROWELD acted quickly and began discussions with one of our European mills to commission a melt and process the hot rolled rod into welding product. Within a few short weeks, EUROWELD was able to provide minimum order quantities, pricing and a delivery schedule. The customer would have the material on schedule in order to qualify welding procedures and execute the work.

Due to schedule and work load at the mill, the order would have to be placed by July 10 to meet schedule. The petroleum company hesitated, and chose not to place the order because they wanted to see what the other manufacturer had to offer, who at this point still had no information regarding quantities, price or schedule.

It took several more weeks for the other manufacturer to get any information. When they finally did, it was very clear the petroleum company made a critical mistake by not placing an order with EUROWELD. The minimum quantity was twice that of EUROWELD, and price per pound was approximately 30% higher. More importantly, they would not be able to deliver the alloy until the spring, far too late for the projects schedule. The petroleum company is now in a situation where no one will be able to deliver a product on time.

This illustrates an unfortunate situation where EUROWELD’s full line of services and resources were not taken advantage of. EUROWELD’s technical knowledge, resources and flexibility are second to none in these unique situations where a specialty alloy is needed.