Nupi invests $4.3M, creates 28 jobs at pipe plant in South Carolina

Pipe producer and fabricator Nupi Americas Inc. is expanding with a $4.3 million investment in Early Branch, S.C., that will create 28 jobs.

Founded in 2001, the subsidiary of Nupi Industrie Italiane SpA, manufactures Niron-brand polypropylene pipe and fittings at the Columbia site.

The company also has fabrication and warehouse facilities in Houston.

Nupi had invested $6.2 million in Early Branch in 2018 as part of a strategy to double in size and manufacture 95 percent of the pipes sold in the United States. The goal was to avoid long lead times on importing pipes from Europe.

"We are now ready to again take another step forward and expand our business to target our goal of exponential market growth in the U.S.," Nupi Industrie CEO and Nupi Americas President and CEO Marco Genoni said in a news release.

Nupi's Niron pipes are made with a random copolymer PP (PP-RCT), which has a molecular structure that offers durability and duration to distribute hot and cold water in plumbing and air conditioning systems, convey drinking water, and transport compressed air and chemical substances.

The company also offers five-layer pipes made of high density polyethylene, aluminum and raised temperature PE joined by two layers of adhesive (Flex-Tite brand); HDPE electrofusion pipes and fittings to convey drinking water and gas fluids under pressure (Elofit brand); and multi-layer pipes for transferring automotive and aviation fuels as well as biofuels and hazardous fluids (Smartflex brand).

The South Carolina expansion is expected to be completed by 2023. Hiring is underway.