The steel industry has undergone a structural adjustment

China has cut steel production capacity of China hollow section tube by more than 150 million tons since 2016, 114% of the global total, according to 21st century business herald.To this end, China has relocated 280,000 steel workers alone, more than the total number of steel jobs in the US, Europe and Japan. At present, China's steel market conditions have improved significantly;capacity utilization rate of  crude steel has returned to more than 80% of the reasonable range. The capacity has entered the deep water now; the steel industry transformation and upgrading difficulties are also increasing. Since last year, due to the favorable market situation of the steel industry, driven by high profits, some regions and enterprises have become more willing to invest in the steel industry, and the implementation of capacity replacement in some regions is out of shape, and the impulse to increase production has increased significantly.

After more than three years of cutting capacity of mild steel tube, the steel industry is now entering a stage of structural adjustment. The means of administrative regulation is gradually weakening, mainly through the market demand by limit production enterprises, but this year the continuous pessimistic will lead to the iron and steel industry of real estate profits further narrowed. Under the pressure of deleveraging of domestic real estate enterprises, operating income and net profit of a number of listed steel enterprises in the third quarter fell to different degrees and they will continue to bear some pressure in the short term. On Oct. 28, chongqing iron and steel released its third quarter 2019 report, showing that its operating revenue in the first three quarters was 17.284 billion yuan, down 0.87 percent from the same period last year. Net profit attributable to shareholders of listed companies was 720 million yuan, down 51.36% from the same period last year.

Chongqing steel pipe suppliers explained that the decline was mainly due to a 4.4 percent year-on-year drop in the composite sales price of steel, reducing profits by 759 million yuan. The price of ores, coal, alloys, scrap and other raw fuels increased, reducing profits by 824 million yuan; Steel sales volume increased by 4.41% year on year, increasing profit by 100 million yuan; The reduction of process costs and the reduction of expenses added 724 million yuan. In addition, steel giant baosteel's previously disclosed third quarter report showed that baosteel's operating revenue in the first three quarters of this year totaled 216.876 billion yuan, down 3.75% year on year. Net profit was 8.874 billion yuan, down 43.65% year on year; Net cash flow of structural steel pipe from operating activities was 19.595 billion yuan, down 46.68% year on year.

Accelerating the establishment of a water quota system for the pipe industry

China is a big steel country. The water consumption in the steel industry accounts for more than 10% of the industrial water consumption, ranking the third in the industrial industry and belonging to the high water consumption industry. In 2002, the state promulgated the national standard of "water intake quota, part 2, hollow section manufacturers", which was revised times in 2012. The promulgation of water intake quota has greatly promoted the progress of water-saving technology in the steel industry. Technological measures such as technology water-saving, recycling water and waste-water reuse have been adopted comprehensively, and the water consumption index has been steadily improved. Water withdrawal per ton of steel decreased from 8.71 cubic meters in 2005 to 3.12 cubic meters in 2017, and water reuse rate increased from 94.3 percent in 2005 to 97.83 percent in 2017.

However, the standard work of water quota is still lagging behind, especially for industrial water quota, there are many problems such as vague concept, non-standard method, imperfect system, which cannot adapt to the new situation of water resource management. In accordance with the requirements of strict water resources management and water efficiency management innovation system, it is necessary to strengthen the in-depth study of the relevant standard system. In order to better promote the water-saving work of steel pipe suppliers, it is necessary to establish a perfect water quota standard system for steel industry.

1.The water quota standard system for the steel industry is an effective measure to support the national water-saving action. The state implements strict water resources management and assessment system. The steel industry is a high water consumption industry, so it is necessary to establish a water-saving assessment system corresponding to this. 2. The steel industry water quota standard system provides the direction for the water-saving work of steel enterprises.In the case of extensive water use in China's steel industry of rectangular hollow section, China has implemented the water intake quota for steel joint enterprises for nearly 20 years, which plays an important role in promoting water saving and water efficiency in steel enterprises. However, as the iron and steel industry to raise the level of water-saving water, limitations of water-saving management becomes more and more obvious, which can't adapt to the demand of steel water completely, and steel enterprise production process and product water quota, need to increase the constraint conditions, from the aspects of process and product water leading the all-round fine iron and mild steel tube manufacturers carry out the water-saving work.

Tianjin steel pipe development prospect in 2020

In the global steel pipe market, Tianjin steel tube has accounted for a large proportion. Every year, a number of customers around the world come to Tianjin for their desired steel products. Tianjin steel pipe play a significant role in the development of modern times today.

For a long time, Tianjin steel tube manufacturers by virtue of its very good reputation and high quality, stand out from other competitors in the global market. In order to meet customers’ requirements for low costs, steel pipe manufacturers in China try to carry out “dimensional accuracy improvements” that is aimed at the “elimination of cold-drawing” as well as the “workability improvements” that is aimed at the “elimination of heat treatment” in steel pipe manufacturing. In general, one of the causes for reduced dimensional accuracy is due to the deformation of the end of a pipe occurring with pipe circumferential forces and residual stress distribution during the production process. Especially in the recent years, Tianjin steel pipe manufacturers are committed to development new advanced technology in achieving improvements involving in low-strain pipe manufacturing, minimizing forming strain during the manufacturing process as well as workability in 2020. In future, it is believed that a seam-forming strain in a positive way will become even more important than technologies for the mere formation of shapes.

For structural steel pipes, the efficiency of production in small lots has to be enhanced in the current steel pipe market. It is necessary to promote the use of cage rolls as a size-independent technology in the production process, or the application of flexible forming mills to medium diameter pipes. Besides, it is essential to manufacture products suited for the use in specific environments, and even to improve the technology applied to adding various working at low costs. As a result of the reduced manufacturing costs and improved quality, it is hoped that seam-welded steel pipes will enter the market for high-strength, high-grade pipes, in which seamless steel pipe have been predominant in the market.

Today, welded steel pipe has been widely used in pipeline projects for a long history. Medium-diameter seam-welded steel pipes are mostly used as line pipes in many large projects in the world. The most important target in the seam-welded steel pipe manufacturing process in relation to the line pipe and oil well pipe market is to ensure a welding quality that is capable of competing with seamless steel pipe in the market and also to establish a corrosion-resistant high-alloy steel pipe manufacturing technology in 2020. In addition, it will be necessary to establish atmospheric control technology in addition to the current method of heat input constant welding control, and also to develop a combined welding method based on present ERW in the current steel pipe market.

How to manufacture hollow section tubes in a mill

In the modern times, hollow section tubes are very popular and widely used as structural materials in some large construction projects around the world. Especially in the recent years, China hollow section tubes have a great demand in the global steel pipe market due to their competitive advantages. Every year, a lot of customers around the world come to China for their desired steel products. However, whether you have tried to learn about how to manufacture hollow section tubes in a mill?

Generally speaking, hollow sections have two major categories in the current steel pipe market: seamless steel pipe and welded steel pipe. Both of them are widely used in a wide range of applications in our society today. Seamless hollow sections are made in two phases, i.e. the first phase consists of piercing an ingot and the second step considers the elongation of this hollow bloom into a finished circular hollow section. And then, the tube will go through a sizing mill to give it the required diameter. Nowadays, welded hollow sections with a longitudinal weld are mainly made employing either electrical resistance welding processes or induction welding processes. As a rule, a strip or plate is formed by rollers into a cylindrical shape and welded longitudinally. The edges are heated, e.g. by electrical resistance, then the roller push the edges together, resulting in a pressure weld. The weld protrusion on the outside of the tube is trimmed immediately after welding.

Rectangular hollow sections also called rectangular steel pipes in the current steel pipe market, which are made by deforming circular hollow sections through forming rollers. And this forming process will be done by hot or cold, using either seamless or longitudinally welded circular hollow sections. Although it is common practice to use longitudinally welded hollow section, for the very thick sections, seamless sections may be used. In addition, square or rectangular hollow sections are sometimes made by forming a single strip to the required shape and closing it by a single weld, preferably in the middle of a face. And some large circular hollow sections are also made by rolling plates through a so-called U-O press process in a mill. After forming the plates to the required shape, the longitudinal weld is made by a submerged arc welding process. Another process for large hollow section tubes for steel pipe manufacturers in China is to use a continuous wide strip, which is fed into a forming machine at an angle to form a spirally formed circular cylinder. The edges of the strip will be welded together by a submerged arc welding process to produce spirally welded tube in a mill.

China hollow section tubes make great progress in manufacturing technology in 2020

From the point of view of manufacturing technology in 2020, China hollow section tubes have basic technological improvements in steel production, involving in high purity refining, process metallurgy through hot rolling, and welding control, as well as the progress that has been made in hollow section tube manufacturing technology in each area so far.

For a long time, China hollow section tubes play an active role in the global steel pipe market, such as ASTM A500 is the most common steel specification for hollow structural section in the steel pipe market around the world. This specification is for cold formed welded and seamless carbon steel tubing in round, square and rectangular shapes. ASTM A501 is another standard for hot formed steel tubing. In the recent years, steel pipe manufacturers in China are committed to technological development in hollow section tube manufacturing. The outstanding feature is the fact that development has been pursued systematically in combination with experiments in response to rapid progress in computers in 2020. For example, China hollow section tubes have supported the progress of each industrial field by developing the supplying steel pipes at the highest technological level. For example, rectangular steel pipe has been widely used in many structural applications involving in residential, commercial and industrial construction fields in the modern. Rectangular steel pipe is fire resistant and does not warp, twist, split, swell or shrink. It resists dry rot and mildew, termites and carpenter ants. For increased fire resistance, the exterior of the product may be sprayed with a fire retardant material.

Today, China hollow section tubes keep up with the times, committed to meeting the requirements for diversified steel pipe performance, including corrosion resistance treatment by galvanizing and aluminizing in the field of structural steel pipes, as well as in civil engineering and construction. Other new aspects include optimizing the weldability according to the application, adhesion of composite steel pipes to concrete, reduction of workpiece weight and volume by high strength steel pipes, steel pipes conforming to seismic design standards, and steel pipes matching scenic conditions. However, China hollow section tube has strongly intensive labor in manufacturing, and its profits depend largely on labor saving technologies. Furthermore, production depends to a great extent on the world energy situation in addition to business fluctuations. In that regard, it is very important for China steel pipe manufacturers to optimize flexibly the operational formation in production lines. And each mill has managed to implement this in future.