Group Companies Betting on Growth Across Sectors

Q: What role does the mining industry play within Tubos y Barras Huecas’ operations?

A: The mining industry represents 30 percent of our market share. Mining companies look for reliable suppliers and Tubos y Barras Huecas seeks to be their main ally for valves and pipelines. In recent years, we have supplied more than US$15 million in products to the sector. In addition, Tubos y Barras Huecas has several branch offices located in strategic mining areas. For example, in Torreon we supply to Peñoles and we hope this year to participate in the following projects: Colorada in Zacatecas, Esperanza in Morelos and Ana Paula in Guerrero.

Q: How do Walworth’s companies, such as GPT and TBH, increase the overall value of your products and services?

A: There are three companies under the Walworth Group umbrella. Walworth is dedicated to the manufacture of valves, GPT offers hot tapping, line closure and construction services, and Tubos y Barras Huecas (TBH) is dedicated to the distribution of carbon steel and stainless-steel pipes, valves and connections. With these companies, we seek to provide our clients with one reliable provider to meet all their needs, rather than having three different suppliers. Walworth Group supplies all the logistical and operational service and product needs in this sector. This is what allows us to provide a better and complete service.

Q: What is the added value that Tubos y Barras Huecas offers to its clients in the mining sector and how do its products differentiate from the competition?

A: We are a national company with 177 years of experience. We enforce the highest quality standards, and we manufacture products according to our client’s needs. The company is one of the few national companies to offer specialized services and products. If an issue arises, Tubos y Barras Huecas sends a technician to advise and support our clients. We also offer a turnkey service that provides certainty and reliability to companies that need solutions to their problems. Many Asian pipes and valves have entered the market and they are now considered our competition. However, our differentiators are twofold: our confidentiality guarantee, which those companies do not offer, and the customer support service we provide.

Q: What are Tubos y Barras Huecas’ market expectations for this year?

A: In Mexico, we predominantly participate in the oil and gas industry. But we have also entered the metal-mechanic, mining, automotive and construction markets, where we have promoted the distribution of our products and services. The metal-mechanic industry represents around 40 percent of the TBH market in the north and now with the Joe Biden administration, we expect to achieve 17 percent growth in northern Mexico for this particular industry. We have two branch offices, one in Coahuila and another in Nuevo Leon, where besides selling services and products, we manage stock, serving as warehouses for these companies. This allows them to reduce their inventory costs and therefore, we can participate as their business partners. Our partners have mentioned to us that with the Biden administration new business has already been contracted, which will allow us to participate in new projects in northern Mexico.

In the south, the government is promoting projects such as Dos Bocas, which will allow us to have a presence in other states and sectors. For this year, we expect great opportunities, especially in the metal-mechanic industry in the north and the oil and gas industry in the southeast.

Q: How is Tubos y Barras Huecas increasing its presence in the Mexican mining industry and what would the company like to achieve in 2021?

A: We are investing heavily in our strongest service, which is inventory, and we have also opened a branch office in Villahermosa, Tabasco, that gives us a greater presence in Mexico’s southeast. This year, we expect to experience significant growth, especially because we forecast that the COVID-19 situation will improve. We expect 9 percent growth in the steel industry, for example. We started the year with a great deal of work and thanks to our multiple business alliances with companies such as ArcelorMittal and Tubos Reunidos in Spain, we have been able to supply the high demand.

Tubos y Barras Huecas is a Mexican company with more than 40 years of experience focused on the commercialization of specialized steel products. The company has six branches around the country.