Tenaris SA

MIL:TEN

Earnings Call Analysis

Company Reports Mixed Q3 Results and Progressive Strategies

In Q3 2023, sales reached $3.2 billion, a 9% year-over-year increase but a 21% sequential decrease, primarily due to lower volumes and prices, especially in the Americas. EBITDA was nearly $1 billion with a margin of 31%, while net income amounted to $547 million, after a $144 million noncash charge. The net cash position rose to $3.3 billion. The company declared an 18% higher interim dividend of $0.20 per share and announced a $1.2 billion share buyback. Investments include $90 million in Houston facilities, a $10 million Italian facility, and an ongoing Shawcor acquisition. Anticipated market stabilization by year-end and advancements in offshore drilling and renewable energy projects mark the future strategy.

Sales and EBITDA Show Resilience Amidst Declining Prices

The company's sales in the third quarter of 2023 reached $3.2 billion, representing a 9% year-over-year increase but suffering a 21% drop from the previous quarter. Although average selling prices in the Tubes operating segment were up by 2% compared to last year, they decreased by 5% sequentially. The EBITDA (Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation, and Amortization), which excludes a one-off gain of $32 million, fell just short of $1 billion with a margin of 31%, impacted primarily by price declines in the Americas.

Solid Cash Flow and Strong Cash Position

Operational activities generated $1.3 billion in cash, and free cash flow stood at $1.1 billion for the quarter despite noncash charges of $144 million related to investments. The company's net cash position increased markedly to $3.3 billion.

Dividend and Share Buyback as Returns to Shareholders

The interim dividend saw an 18% increase over the last year's value. Moreover, a share buyback program has been instituted, targeting up to $1.2 billion to be executed in quarterly tranches over the next 12 months.

Positive Outlook on Drilling Activity and International Markets

The company expects drilling activity to recover, looking ahead to 2024, supported by declining OCTG inventory levels and stable natural gas prices, potentially leading to increased investments from oil and gas companies. In the international market, the company is using its product mix and differentiation strategy to potentially increase prices, separate from the dynamics affecting the Pipe Logix index.

Regional Challenges and Opportunities

In the face of possible economic challenges in Argentina, the company recognizes the potential for significant investment opportunities, especially in the Vaca Muerta region. Brazil's stable development of the oil and gas industry, led by Petrobras, is creating a supportive environment for growth. However, in Mexico, financial difficulties of PEMEX are causing delays in payments, despite new investments from private companies in resource development. Colombia may see a recovery in the oil and gas sector decisions potentially being reconsidered for 2024 and 2025, indicating a broader regional recovery.

Guidance Suggests Stable Output and High Margins

Volume guidance is set around 1 million tons per quarter entering the fourth quarter of 2023 and into 2024, matching analyst expectations. The company's EBITDA guidance for the fourth quarter suggests a margin between 25% to 30%, potentially exceeding $800 per ton, which is significantly higher than the long-term average margin and indicative of the structural changes in the market and the company's unique positioning.

Expectations for Rising Activity and Volume Growth

Based on the insights from larger operators' programs, activity is anticipated to increase by 5% to 6% into the first quarter of 2024. In the Middle East, as highlighted, Saudi and UAE operations are ramping up, and offshore operations are expected to be at full capacity by midyear. Consequently, volumes in the second half of 2024 are projected to significantly outpace those of the current year, with possible double-digit growth.

Earnings Call Transcript 2023-Q3

[Operator]

Good day, and thank you for standing by. Welcome to the Third Quarter 2023 Tenaris S.A. Earnings Conference Call. [Operator Instructions] Please be advised that today's conference is being recorded.

I would now like to turn the call over to the Head of Investor Relations, Mr. Giovanni Sardagna.

[Giovanni Sardagna, executive]

Thank you, Carmen, and welcome to Tenaris 2023 Third Quarter Conference Call. Before we start, I would like to remind you that we will be discussing forward-looking information in the call and that our actual results may vary from those expressed or implied during this call. With me on the call today are Paolo Rocca, our Chairman and CEO; Alicia Mondolo, our Chief Financial Officer; Gabriel Podskubka, our Chief Operating Officer; and Luca Zanotti, President of our U.S. Operations.

Before passing over the call to Paolo for his opening remarks, I would like to briefly comment our quarterly results. Our sales in the third quarter of 2023 reached $3.2 billion, up 9% compared to those of the corresponding quarter of last year, but down 21% sequentially, mainly due to lower volumes and prices throughout the Americas, lower quarterly shipments to offshore projects and lower pipeline shipments in Argentina.

Average selling prices in our Tubes operating segment increased 2% compared to the corresponding quarter of last year, but declined 5% sequentially. As anticipated, our EBITDA, excluding a one-off gain of $32 million, fell just short of $1 billion with a margin of 31%. The sequential EBITDA decline was mainly driven by the ongoing price declines in the Americas.

Our net income for the quarter at $547 million was affected by noncash charges of $144 million related to the remeasurement and recycling of CTA to the income statement of our direct and indirect investment in Usiminas. Cash generated by operating activities during the quarter was $1.3 billion, while our free cash flow for the quarter was $1.1 billion, with a further reduction in working capital of $415 million. Our net cash position at the end of the quarter rose to $3.3 billion.

Our Board of Directors approved the payment of an interim dividend of $0.20 per share or $0.40 per ADR to be paid on November 22. The interim dividend is up 18% compared to the interim dividend we paid last year. In addition to the dividend, the Board of Directors also approved a share buyback of $1.2 billion to be executed within the next 12 months.

Now I will ask Paolo to say a few words before we open the call to questions.

[Paolo Rocca, executive]

Thank you very much, Giovanni, and good morning to all of you. As anticipated, our third quarter results were affected by, among other factors, lower onshore drilling activity and an ongoing adjustment in market price level in the Americas and the lower level of shipment in certain regions following a strong second quarter.

On the other hand, we had another extraordinary quarter for cash flow with a generation of $1.1 billion of free cash flow, making the $3.1 billion in the year-to-date. With this cash flow adding to our already-strong financial position, yesterday, we announced the launch of our first share buyback program, together with an 18% increase in our interim dividend.

The share buyback program, which is for an amount of up to $1.2 billion, is to be carried over -- credited out over the next 12 months. We consider that buying back our own shares would constitute a better use of our excess cash than our current liquidity investment.

During the quarter, we invested $90 million on the acquisition of additional heat treatment and trading facilities in Houston, which will help us to debottleneck our U.S. in data system. We also acquired a small pipe coating facility located close to our Dalmine plant in Italy for USD 10 million and announced the acquisition of the larger Shawcor global pipe coating business.

This remains subject to the obtention of regulatory approvals and is expected to be concluded by the end of the year. The expansion of our pipe coating operation at the global level will help us to serve customers with an integrated offer for complex and offshore line pipe project.

In North America, we expect a recovery in drilling activity as we look towards 2024. In the United States, the relatively low level of drilling and completed wells and the DOC and the crude oil inventories, favorable oil price and rising natural gas prices should support an increasing investment as oil and gas companies reset their budgets for the next year.

With OCTG inventory declining from excess level, the decline in prices for several product items is starting to slow down. The Pipe Logix index can be subdivided into different product sites and groups, where performance is not uniform. For example, item groups such as surface casing and tubing, which are most exposed to low-quality imports, have fallen further than higher-quality product item groups, such as production casing, which are largely produced by domestic producer.

We expect that if inventory continues to come down, market pricing should start to stabilize by the end of the year. At the same time, we are increasing the level of differentiation through our Rig Direct service. By the end of 2023, around 85% of our OCTG sales in the U.S. will be supplied under our Rig Direct service model, and 75% of those sales will be done with our new RunReady service included. This compares with 65% and 30%, respectively, at the end of last year.

In Canada, we also expect to drill activity to pick up as we head into the peak winter drilling season. We are repositioning ourselves following the revision of normal values on Chinese OCTG import made by the Canadian government earlier this year and an expected increase in activity in the Montney shale.

In the Middle East, the Saudi market is growing particularly strong as Aramco is rapidly increasing gas drilling activity, both conventional and unconventional, and investing in pipeline construction and there is a Master Gas [ 3 ] plant. We recently won a tender with a value of $600 million to supply seamless casing and tubing with short delivery times. For this increased activity is an increase in reduced stock levels during the pandemic.

Our recently consolidated GPC subsidiary, which invoiced $52 million during the quarter, is positioning itself to supply the large-diameter conductor casing used in most wells in Saudi Arabia. Our new premium trading facility in the Emirates -- in the United Arab Emirates, will begin operation this month. This will be the first industrial facility of its kind in the Emirates and is being built along with the special Tenaris University training facility to increase the local content provision under our multiyear Rig Direct agreement with ADNOC.

Offshore drilling and pipeline construction activity is in an expansionary cycle. We have been quick to capture the first wave of this cycle, and our sale to offshore project will be 50% higher in 2023 than they were last year. Our position in Guyana and Brazil has been central to this achievement. And in October, at the OTC event in Rio, Petrobras awarded us a 2022 best supplier recognition in the category of goods for drilling and completing well.

Our research and development area and technical teams continue to develop material and product solutions tested for the specific conditions involved in more complex low-carbon energy applications, such as CCS, carbon caption storage injection wells and hydrogen storage vessels.

In October, we were awarded a contract to supply high-chrome alloy tubing for carbon injection wells for the EU-founded Porthos project in Rotterdam. The materials were selected to withstand the high growth in risk and expect that to [ generate ] thermal shocks.

In Argentina, our first 100-megawatt wind farm has entered full operation and is delivering power through the interconnected grid to our operation in campaign. We have secured the opportunity for a second 90-megawatt wind farm and we will go ahead with $214 million investment to be completed within 24 months.

Both wind farms will provide cost-competitive electric power with capacity factor of 55% and above with no subsidy. With the investment in the wind farms and our ongoing investment in energy efficiency, we expect to meet almost 100% of our energy requirement in Argentina through renewable energy.

Digitalization is central to our strategy. One investment that is currently coming onstream is a $20 million digital global programming and scheduling system that will help us to improve production lead times, cost and compliance. With favorable market conditions ahead, we are strengthening our competitiveness and focusing on service and margin differentiation. We are now ready for any questions you may have.

[Operator]

[Operator Instructions] One moment for our first question. It comes from the line of Alessandro Pozzi with Mediobanca.

[Alessandro Pozzi, analyst]

Congratulations on the good sets of results. My first question is on the average selling price. As you pointed out, there are different categories they are seeing different movement in prices. And if I look at your average selling price in Q3, it's not that different from Q4 in 2022, marginally down, but not as much as the Pipe Logix.

So the question here is, is there a growing disconnect between your ASP and the pipe project? Or is it just a matter of the time lag between the 2, and we will see your ASP actually for -- in line with the Pipe Logix maybe in the coming quarters? And on this point, maybe if you can give us some color on where you see sales going in Q4 and in Q1 with the EBITDA margin. That's the first question.

The second question is on the share buyback. Maybe if you can clarify when you're planning to start the share buyback and whether maybe Techint is going to participate? Or when we will know whether Techint is going to participate?

[Paolo Rocca, executive]

Thank you, Alessandro. As far as your first question is concerned, the association and between the Pipe Logix indicator and our overall price is influenced by many different factors. On one side, the majority of our prices are driven by different factors compared to the Pipe Logix. Some of the formulas are taking into consideration cost or different variable independent from the Pipe Logix.

Even within the U.S. and North America, that is more influenced by Pipe Logix. The formula that we have with our clients are reflecting specific product within the Pipe Logix portfolio that, in some cases, are not moving in the same direction as the average of Pipe Logix. There are differences between, for instance, premium or complex product and more simple export.

So I don't think we can drive a strict correlation between the pipeline and the overall average price of Tenaris. Yes, we have more [ declaration ] with our operation in North America, but North America is very important in our overall sales.

So I will ask Luca Zanotti to add some color on this relation between the Pipe Logix index and the dynamics of our prices.

[Luca Zanotti, executive]

Yes. Thank you, Paolo. As Paolo was saying, when we look at the North America and we look at how the demand is structured, you see that -- always more and more, we have a predominance of seamless heat-treated. If you look at, for example, a key component of the demand, which is the production casing, which is more or less 40%, 45% of the [ overall ] market. The great majority of this is seamless.

When we cope this with the structure of the Pipe Logix and the price, you see that these items are the ones that suffer less of the decrease within the Pipe Logix. So for you to come up with a conclusion, if you put together the structure of the market and the way the different items are moving within the Pipe Logix. And this is one point that is worth mentioning.

The second point that is worth mentioning is that, when you look at the United States, our formula with our customers are not necessarily 100% related to the Pipe Logix. There are our indicators. And obviously, these indicators in this context are much less volatile than the Pipe Logix itself.

I believe that these are the 2 main reasons why you see a sort of not perfect match between our prices even in the United States when you look at the Pipe Logix.

[Paolo Rocca, executive]

Then Gabriel, you can comment on the wide range of prices and the dynamic that is very different than we have in many other markets of our system.

[Gabriel Podskubka, executive]

Yes, Paolo. Thank you very much. Indeed, the dynamics of the prices in the international markets differ from the dynamics of the Pipe Logix. Internationally, we are benefiting from an increased demand on Middle East and offshore markets.

And we have, at the same time, a tight supply of premium products, sophisticated grades, so our service, or high-chromium grades as well. So these segments are not linked or influenced, by no means, by the Pipe Logix. The products require a competitive environment completely differs from that influenced by Pipe Logix.

So in international markets, we continue to see in the high end of the market, opportunities to enrich our mix and drive prices up. There is typically a lag of 6 months to 9 months in this part of the world from booking prices and into deliveries, but we see a positive trajectory on the international pricing into the end of this year and into 2024.

[Paolo Rocca, executive]

Thank you, Gabriel. And on the second question, which is share buyback. The share buyback will be executed in quarterly tranche from now until within 1 year. And we didn't receive any specific information on this from our majority shareholder.

[Alessandro Pozzi, analyst]

Okay. And just a follow-up on the evolution of margins for the next couple of quarters. Is there any additional color that you can provide?

[Paolo Rocca, executive]

Well, the -- to the extent to which the Pipe Logix is influencing, at least, as Luca was explaining, part of our sale in North America and, in some cases, also other markets, we will see this reflected in our margin with some delay. So the decline that you have seen in this quarter will also be reflected in the next and possibly according to the evolution of Pipe Logix in the coming months, November and December. We will see if this trend will continue or not.

To this extent, this will be reflected in our margin. As you have seen, last quarter, we anticipated margin in the range of 30%, and this is where we are today. Considering all the factors, I think that we can have a slightly lower margin in the next quarter. But we will remain, let's say, between 25% and 30% over time. This is our -- also our long-term view.

[Alessandro Pozzi, analyst]

Okay. And potentially picking up from Q2 if Pipe Logix stabilizes, is that fair?

[Paolo Rocca, executive]

Difficult to predict. There are many factors that will be influencing demand and supply in, let's say, during the first half of 2024. There is activity, that is important, the level of drilling and the demand of pipe, the level of import is also relevant.

Imports went down, but we have to see if this trend to continue. In general, we perceive a reduction in the level of inventory in the market, which is positive for giving support to the overall price level in the U.S.

[Operator]

And it comes from the line of Arun Jayaram with JPMorgan Securities.

[Arun Jayaram, analyst]

My first question is on the U.S., perhaps for Luca. Wondering if you could comment on what you're seeing in terms of the import of products into the U.S., how is lower pricing impacting imports into the U.S.?

[Paolo Rocca, executive]

Thank you, Arun. Luca, you can comment on this.

[Luca Zanotti, executive]

Yes. And I can tie back to what Paolo was saying on the inventory. So when you look at the imports, we have seen imports to go down. And this is, basically, with the exception of Koreans that are compliant with their quota quarterly, I mean, all the importers have come down, both ERW and seamless. Now one thing that was not mentioned before, but it is important, is that also the domestic production, especially on the ERW side, came down, which helped reducing the inventory on the ground during this month.

But getting back to your point, obviously, as price goes down, some importers will start to face the 25% imposed on Section 232, especially as they complete their quota. And in the case in which we're going to see a recovery in demand starting in 2024, obviously, this has -- is going to have an impact on the possibility of some very low imports to come in. However, we believe that the imports are high, and this is a problem that the domestic industry is going to take care of.

[Arun Jayaram, analyst]

Okay. And just a quick follow-up is what about the potential -- if the imports are declining into the U.S., could that impact international pricing if the imports find a new home?

[Paolo Rocca, executive]

Well, I don't think there is a clear overlapping because -- between the material that some companies importing in the States and the international market. For instance, the space for welded product outside the United States is very limited. I mean the demand -- international demand is different. There could be some redirection of import, but it's a much lower scale to what is importing in the States.

Because the overlapping -- also this is a market in which qualification -- establishing the product in every different place in the different company is a complex process. In the U.S., it is easier for a producer with a relatively limited experience and track record to penetrate some segment of the low end in the market.

[Arun Jayaram, analyst]

Right. And Paolo, I just want to get a quick thoughts on the Argentinian election. Obviously, there's a candidate who is proposing dollarizing Argentina, but just some quick thoughts. I know -- we still don't know the outcome yet.

[Paolo Rocca, executive]

There is -- we are in an election process. There will be ballotage in 19 of November. Whoever wins the ballotage will assume the presidency on the 10th of December. I think that whatever the outcome of the ballotage, there will be the need in Argentina for an adjustment program that will require a reduction of public spending, devaluation.

And it's possible that economic activity may be reduced to, let's say, align some of the variable that today are out of normal situation for a country like Argentina. So we will see. There is no clear indication on the results of the ballotage. And there is no clear indication or program that will be implemented after the assumption.

[Operator]

It comes from the line of Marc Bianchi with TD Cowen.

[Marc Bianchi, analyst]

Maybe following up to the last question. You had previously discussed some concern on South America in the back half of the year because of election uncertainty. Could you talk about how that's evolved? Obviously, there may be still some uncertainty for Argentina, but the rest of the region and thoughts heading into '24 would be helpful.

[Paolo Rocca, executive]

Well, I mentioned Argentina, as I say, we expected that after the assumption, Argentina will need to implement, as I was saying, an adjustment program that will have some impact on, as I say, the exchange rate, public spending. No doubt, to some extent, we may expect a reduction of the level of economic activity.

But any government will need to promote export and attraction of investment. Argentina has very important potential for attracting investment in the oil and gas sector. In the agricultural sector, in lithium, in development of lithium, in development of renewable and in other areas of its economy. I think this will be part of the program of any of the 2 candidates.

And also, the condition of the agricultural sector in 2023 has been extremely difficult due to the drought that affect the country. This will help the next government in facing the challenges of the adjustment process.

So this is where we stand. And I think that in the case that the program is successful, the need to develop infrastructure in the energy sector for oil and gas is very relevant. We think there are potential in Vaca Muerta is very important.

As far as Brazil is concerned, Brazil is stable, developing its oil and gas industry. Petrobras has a very ambitious target for increasing its production level. Contract like the one that we signed with Equinor are indicating that also the private sector and private company are investing in Brazil with large project that has relevant infrastructural content areas in which we participate from [ Confab ] in all the segments of drilling and conduct evacuation line pipes that are used for this.

In the case of Mexico -- also in the case of Mexico, it will be logical for Mexico to, after the new refinery is coming onstream, to invest in the energy sector and to support financially PEMEX. And also to -- what we see today is that there are private company investing in development of Mexican resources. But it's also true that the financial situation of PEMEX is very difficult.

And we, as other companies in the oil service system, in this moment, are facing some delay in payment from PEMEX. It will be very important over the coming months, let's say, for PEMEX, at the same time, to expand this operation, if possible, and also to reduce the payable to part of the supplier, one of these is Tenaris.

The case of the rest of the Latin America, in Colombia, after the election, we expect that some of the decisions in the oil and gas sector may be reconsidered. And I feel there could be also, in the case of Colombia, during 2024 and '25, let's say, some recovery from the situation where we are today. After the reduction during 2023, there has been pretty strong, either stable or improving. Okay.

[Marc Bianchi, analyst]

I want to ask a couple of more quick ones on just sort of the direction of business over the next couple of quarters. Volumes were down 17% in the third quarter. It sounds like you're anticipating volumes to improve in the fourth quarter. I'm curious if you think 1 million tons a quarter is sort of the right number to be thinking about for fourth quarter and entering 2024? And then if there's any regional comments around that.

[Paolo Rocca, executive]

Yes, you're right. I mean this is what we expect. The situation in Argentina may influence some of the decisions on the pipeline and moving this in time between the different quarters. But basically, we are in the range that you mentioned. This is what we expect in the coming quarter.

[Marc Bianchi, analyst]

Okay. Great. And then the other one was just related to profit per ton, the guidance of 25% to 30% or so for the fourth quarter would suggest you're maybe over $800 a ton of EBITDA. The long-term average has been around $500, and there's another company out there saying the normalized price or average margin is $500. Do you think you can maintain this $800? And why do you think it would be better than the long-term average?

[Paolo Rocca, executive]

Well, I think that there has been a structural change, both on the side of the market and on the positioning of Tenaris in this market. Today, I think the relevance of the activity and investment in the U.S. is much more accessible for Tenaris.

We have deployed our assets in the last 5 years, especially. But even we started with our investment in the States in 2007 on a substantial way, and this is positioning Tenaris very differently in a very important area of oil and gas market. So we are, in this sense, structurally different.

We are also structurally different because of the expansion of the differentiated product and services. The Rig Direct is giving us additional margin, in my view. And in my view, we can defend the differentiation coming from the Rig Direct and the level of service that we are adding to our product delivery. This was not the situation 5 years ago. We progressed over time.

Also, our positioning in the Gulf and Middle East is substantially different today with the investment in Saudi Arabia, the new plant in the Emirates, the -- let's say, the positioning of Tenaris has changed. So the combination of the change in the market -- because the concentration will also help concentration of oil producer and the international oil company, to some extent, is favoring producer like Tenaris that has an established global footprint.

And there are, let's say, having standard from quality to safety, to environment that fit with the demand of international company. Also, this has introduced, in my view, a structural change that justify a level of margin higher than the level of margin that is the average of the last 10 years.

[Operator]

And it comes from the line of Luke Lemoine with Piper Sandler.

[Luke Lemoine, analyst]

Just one question. With your Rig Direct program in the U.S., you have pretty good insight into some of the larger operators' programs. I just wanted to see if you could comment on how you see future activity unfolding over the next 3 to 6 months?

[Paolo Rocca, executive]

Thank you, Luke. I think, Luca, you can [indiscernible]

[Luca Zanotti, executive]

As I was saying before, we see activity increasing from the current levels. And when we look at, let's say, a large portion of either our direct customers or customers' prospects that we are in a relationship, we see this going up.

And our, let's say, estimation of this activity increase is very much in line with what the drillers that already hold our -- sorry, their earnings call have said, "We see activity moving up 5%, 6% from current levels into first quarter of 2024." This is what we're seeing.

[Operator]

[Operator Instructions] One moment for our last question, please. It comes from the line of David Anderson with Barclays.

[John Anderson, analyst]

So if we assume that the rig count -- U.S. rig count bottoms here in the next month or so, can you talk about how you see volumes trending over the next 12 months? Middle East continues to ramp up, as you highlighted, Saudi and UAE. Offshore should be fully up to speed by midyear.

I would think volumes in the second half of '24 should be quite a bit compared to the second half of this year, perhaps even up double digits. Am I thinking about kind of that trajectory right in terms of how you're seeing the market developing for volumes?

[Paolo Rocca, executive]

Thank you, David. I think it's difficult to guide expectation for such a long-distant future because the world is moving on, let's say, fast on different aspects. There are conflicts around, and there are issues that are really out of our control. We can perceive and we can see our horizon in the next couple of quarters. That is the one that we're trying to represent. But it's difficult to understand for us where we could be in the second part of 2024.

Probably the area in which we can have a medium term is the area of offshore project. There are, let's say, possibly more stable over time. Once they are decided, they go. Gabriel, maybe, in this sense, you can add some comment on what you see for the second part medium term, let's say, in 2024.

[Gabriel Podskubka, executive]

Sure,Paolo. Indeed, offshore drilling continues to increase. the number of rigs that we have operating today globally in the offshore are even increasing the pre-pandemic levels, both in shallow water and deepwater. So every discussion that we have with our customers, FID projections, CapEx projections, indicate that this is a multiyear cycle. The activity is robust, and we continue grow.

There is traction, virtually, in all offshore basins around the world. And as a matter of fact, Denali has already benefited from this growing trend. If you consider, as we are closing in November and December shipments, but our sales revenues in 2023 will be at least 50% higher year-on-year at 2022. So this is already a trend that is embedded in our sales in 2023. And we see this continuously increasing.

We have seen during the quarter also some signs of increased activity in exploration. This is an important niche for us, and we had some awards on exploration campaigns in Egypt, in Angola, offshore Colombia as well. So we have a strong backlog in offshore, mainly on the development, OCTG and pipeline, with deliveries into 2024. And some of these projects will even arrive to deliveries into 2025. We see this at the early part of a multiyear cycle.

And I think our acquisition of the coating facility in Italy and the announcement of the Shawcor coating division is a sign of our confidence on this segment, where we already have a differentiated portfolio and have an established position. So we see that this will be an ongoing contribution within the portfolio.

[Paolo Rocca, executive]

Thank you, Gabriel. Still, let me add. We have some caveat, the situation of -- in the world is exposed to very different issues coming -- that could come out -- disruption, I would say, that will come out. The price of LNG globally continue to be influenced by the situation in Europe. Price of oil may be influenced also by the situation in Middle East.

Our operation also, for instance, in the Eastern Mediterranean sand oil project had been canceled. In general, also, in Latin America, election here in Mexico, now in Argentina. So the overall view is the one that we expressed. But we need to take into consideration the potential for disruption that is, for sure, something that exists in 2024.

[John Anderson, analyst]

Very much understood, Paolo. One final question as it relates to the buyback that you announced today. Is this targeting just the open float of shares? Or will the closely held shares be participating in the buyback as well?

[Paolo Rocca, executive]

We don't know. I mean the -- we launched the program having in mind the return that we can get from our cash by investing in the company compared to the investment we can get by managing the liquidity. This is a key factor for this decision. As I mentioned, we will have an intermediate bank to perform the acquisition in the coming 4 quarters, starting next week, probably. And we will see. I don't think we can add more on this.

[Operator]

And we have time for one more question. And it comes from the line of Jamie Franklin with Jefferies.

[Jamie Franklin, analyst]

I was just wondering if you could give us any color on CapEx plans for 2024 and '25. Obviously, there's been the announcement of the second investment in a wind farm in Argentina, which is great to see. Beyond that, should we be expecting further bolt-on M&A? And where, specifically, would you be looking? And what about the possibility of adding seamless capacity internationally? Is that an option?

[Paolo Rocca, executive]

Thank you, Jamie. Our -- we will be spending in CapEx in the range of $350 million in the first semester of 2024. And we plan to spend a similar amount in the second half. So we are running at a pace of around $700 million in CapEx. We have, among our investment, as you mentioned, in the wind farm in Argentina.

The wind farm in Argentina, we completed the first one in line with our budget, more or less, with very small difference. We consider that this is an area in which is the first priority for decarbonizing Tenaris because we can do this in very effective condition and very competitive condition. We will continue with the development of the second wind farm.

Then we have intervention in improving -- in Argentina in improving our operation in the steel shop, reducing also our energy consumption that goes in the same direction and add, let's say, improved operational conditions for our -- we also have investment in our facility in Dalmine and in the U.S., in our steel shop in copper. So these are basically -- the issue there are, let's say, receiving investment of, let's say, relevant size.

Then we will have to -- let's say, to consolidate the acquisition of Shawcor and see, once we receive the anti-trust clearance, if this goes on, maybe that this will require, let's say, additional investment or consideration for this. We cannot predict now. I think these are the main area. We do not see, after the acquisition of Republic, specific target or areas for our M&A.

But we, as always, are analyzing and considering our strategic positioning in every region of the world. Tenaris is a global player, is leader worldwide and has to maintain, let's say, an exercise of strategic focus in all of the regions in which we operate, to understand how we can strengthen structurally our position. But for the time being, we have nothing so relevant to consider.

[Operator]

Thank you. And ladies and gentlemen, this concludes the question-and-answer period. I would like to turn the call back to Giovanni Sardagna for his closing comments.

[Giovanni Sardagna, executive]

Thank you, Carmen, and well, thank you all for joining us on our quarterly call, and we'll see you soon. Thanks.

[Operator]

Thank you, ladies and gentlemen, for your participation, and you may now disconnect.