The Techint Group, known formally as Grupo Techint S.A de C.V., is quite a formidable conglomerate focused on steel primarily with tentacles dispersed widely around the globe after reaching countries in the Americas, Europe, Asia and Oceania. In fact, beginning in Argentina as a civil and industrial engineering contractor shortly after World War II and founded by Italian war refugee and industrialist Agostino Rocca, the conglomerate has expanded tremendously since then and is now being led by members of the third generation including its Chairman, CEO, Harvard MBA alumnus and prominent Italian billionaire Paolo Rocca. Moreover, the publicly-traded subsidiaries domiciled in Luxembourg include steel pipe maker Tenaris S.A. and flat steel concern Ternium S.A. while the wholly-owned subsidiaries include Techint Engineering and Construction S.A., Tecpetrol S.A., Tenova S.p.A. and the Humanitas Group S.p.A. Tenaris is a pipe champion, trading here in the US as an ADR on the NYSE under the ticker symbol (TS), that specializes in the manufacture of welded and seamless steel pipes used in the construction of pipelines and pumping oil out of the ground in drilled petroleum wells respectively while including in its products package oil-field services like the installation of tubular columns ready for cementing employed in on-shore oil drilling rigs. The unit is the biggest steel pipe maker in the world today and wholly owns subsidiaries in Japan, Australia, Canada, Indonesia, America, Italy, Romania, Saudi Arabia, Brazil, Mexico, Ecuador, Colombia and Argentina. Presently, it reports sales of approximately $ 10 billion annually and profits hovering $ 1 billion a year while trading for around $ 20 billion of market value. The flat steel operation, on the other hand, known as Ternium and listed here in the US as an ADR on the NYSE under the ticker symbol (TX), has wholly-owned subsidiaries in America, Colombia, Guatemala, Argentina and Mexico while also holding a 51% shareholding in Usiminas S.A., which is Brazil’s second largest flat steel maker reporting sales of approximately $ 7 billion a year. The controlling ownership stake in Usiminas was purchased from Brazilian conglomerate Camargo Corrêa S.A. last year. Overall, Ternium has consolidated sales of about $ 15 billion a year while reporting solid profits of roughly $ 500 million annually and fetching just over $ 5 billion in market value. The civil and industrial engineering contractor tracing its roots to the early days of business activities of the Rocca clan in Argentina right after World War II, specializes in building highways, roads, bridges, tunnels, airport terminals, runways, seaports, stadiums, railway tracks, power transmission lines, substations, power plants, pipelines, petroleum refineries and steel mills in Latin America while making sales of $ 3 billion a year on average. The unit is wholly-owned by the conglomerate. Furthermore, the Techint Group has business interests in oil exploration and production in Latin America through a wholly-owned subsidiary known as Tecpetrol after having bought various blocks for exploration throughout the subcontinent while currently making close to $ 2 billion a year in sales. In addition, other investments the group has made include heavy machinery Italian manufacturer Tenova and hospital operator in Italy the Humanitas Group. Tenova specializes in fabricating heavy machinery used in steel mills like furnaces and roll shops as well as manufacturing equipment used in packaging operations. The Humanitas Group, on the other hand, is a non-profit entity that operates about a handful of hospitals in Northern Italy as well as a medical research center and the investment represents a philanthropic contribution from the group.
To conclude, the Techint Group is currently the second biggest privately-held company in Latin America after reporting consolidated sales that reach close to $ 30 billion a year now while employing approximately 60,000 workers. In fact, the crown-jewel of the group is steel pipe maker Tenaris and this unit in particular represents a growing and strategic multinational containing widespread business operations in Latin America. Likewise, the Rocca clan has steered the growth of the group efficiently with a focus on steel operations spanning three generations altogether while making strategic investments in various countries scattered widely throughout the globe.