Looking forward to steel pipe market in 2019 according to 2018 performance

According to the listed steel pipe companies, they announced the results that the performance of the steel pipe market in 2018 is quite excellent. The earnings of steel pipe industry ushered in a peak. Industry insiders believe that in the end of the real estate cycle, the decline in consumption of cars, appliances will continue. The steel industry has had its ups and downs in 2018.Take the local thread price in Shanghai as an example. In march, there was an extreme situation that the monthly price dropped by more than 600 yuan/ton, and then it climbed by 1200 yuan/ton and reached the high of the year in October. From the final results, steel companies still had a good year.

In 2018, the net profit attributable to shareholders of the listed company is expected to increase by 1.785 billion yuan to 2.088 billion yuan year-on-year, and increase by 67.46% to 78.91% year-on-year. Baosteel's net profit is expected to rise by 1.5 billion yuan to 2.3 billion yuan, up 8 percent to 12 percent year-on-year. Based on this data, baosteel's annual net profit for 2018 will exceed 21 billion yuan.

In 2018, the outstanding performance of hollow section manufacturers mainly lies in the good market environment provided by the supply-side reform. Under the background of tight balance, both quantity and price rise. In addition, about 50 million tons of production capacity of new iron ore will be added in 2018. The price of iron ore, the main raw material, fluctuates, making the cost side pressure of steel mills less. From the market situation, the overall performance of the steel sector in 2018 is not good. Compared with the tight balance between supply and demand for cold rolled steel pipe in 2018, the supply in 2019 will slightly increase and the growth of demand will slightly slow down, which will weaken the support for prices.

In 2019, with the downward pressure on the economy, the overall marginal performance of steel supply and demand is weaker, and the overall profits of the steel industry will narrow. In the past three years, the steel industry has reduced 150 million tons of excess capacity and removed 140 million tons of "steel". The power of the steel mill significantly enhanced. At the same time, the real estate demand for square steel pipe is still at a relatively high level, and more efforts have been made to make up for the shortage of infrastructure, so as to support the construction steel from the demand.

Tianjin welded steel pipe classification in the market

Today, Tianjin steel pipe is playing a vital role in the steel pipe industry around the world. Especially Tianjin welded steel pipe become a favor among many users from different countries in the world. Generally, Tianjin welded steel pipe can be divided into straight seam welded pipe and spiral welded pipe as per different shapes of welded steel pipe. The straight seam welded pipe undergoes much simpler processing method than the spiral welded pipe does. Furthermore, thanks to its low manufacturing costs, straight seam welded pipe wins fast development prospect. However, the strength of spiral welded pipe is generally higher than that of straight seam welded pipe because the later is made from a narrow billet production into a larger diameter welded steel pipe. As a result, straight seam welded steel pipe usually has a small diameter while the spiral welded steel pipe mostly has large diameter.

In the current steel pipe market, there are a variety of types of welded steel pipe for your choice. Sometimes, you may be confusing about how to choose the proper type of steel product in your project. Here we would like to talk about some common types of welded steel pipes in the market. One process for producing pipe is fusion weld, sometimes called “continuous weld”, which is produced in size1/8’’ to 4~12’’. Fusion weld pipe begins as coiled steel of the required width and thickness for the size and weight of pipe to be made. Successive coils of steel are welded end to end to form a continuous ribbon of steel. The ribbon of steel is fed into a leveler and then into a gas furnace where it is heated to the required temperature for forming and fusing. The forming rolls at the end of the furnace shape the heated skelp into an oval. The edges of the skelp are then firmly pressed together by rolls to obtain a forged weld. The heat of the skelp, combined with the pressure exerted by the rolls, form the weld. No metal is added into the operation. Final sizing rolls bring the pipe into its required dimensions. In the recent years, China hollow section tube manufacturers are committed to providing customized welded steel pipes for users around the world.


Another common type of welded steel pipe in the market is ERW pipe. The processing of electric resistance welded pipe begins as a coiled plate of steel with appropriate thickness and specific width to form a pipe that conforms to its relevant specifications. ERW pipe is cold formed. For example, cold rolled steel pipe is very popular in a variety of applications in the recent years. The ribbon is pulled through a series of rollers that gradually form it into a cylindrical tube. As the edges of the now cylindrical plate come together, an electric charge is applied at the proper points to heat the edges so they can be welded together.

China hollow section tubes are popular in structure applications today

As we all know, the excellent properties of the tubular shape have been recognized for a long time. In the first part of the previous century, an Englishman, Whitehouse, developed the fire welding of circular hollow sections. However, the production of welded circular hollow sections became more important after the development of the continuous welding process in 1930 by the American, Fretz Moon. In the recent years, the first production methods for seamless and welded steel pipe have made great progress in the steel pipe industry.

Technically speaking, design is an interactive process between the functional and architectural requirements and the strength and fabrication aspects. In a good design, all these aspects have to be considered in a balanced way. Due to the special features of hollow sections and their joints, it seems even of more importance than for steel structures of open sections. Therefore, it is very important for you to choose the proper type of structural steel pipe in construction projects. In these years, China hollow section tubes play a significant role in the global steel pipe market. China hollow section tubes as an important building material used in the construction industry tend to serve a wide range of functions often, due to the good performances of durability, strength and resistance to harsh environment conditions. In the current steel pipe market, round steel pipe and square steel pipe are the popular building materials in construction. With steel, it's easy to expose the building's beauty in a design that will emphasize its grace, strength, transparency, and slenderness. The column-free clear spans and the use of colored steel pipe coatings bring out the natural lighting of the frame and its simple elegance. In construction projects, China hollow section tubes have many uses such as structural applications involved in residential, commercial and industrial construction. In particulars, as the flat square surface has the performance to ease construction, rectangular steel pipes are sometimes widely used for architectural aesthetics in exposed structures.

In the current steel pipe market, hot dipped galvanized steel pipe are very popular among builders. Many examples in nature show the excellent properties of the tubular shape with regard to loading in compression, torsion and bending in all directions. And these excellent properties are combined with an attractive shape for architectural applications. Furthermore, the closed shape without sharp corners reduces the area to be protected and extends the corrosion protection life in applications.

We will consolidate efforts to cut overcapacity in steel

At present, China's steel industry has basically built a standard system including basic general standards, product standards of China hollow section, method standards and management standards, but there are also some shortcomings. Lv guixin, inspector of the raw material industry department of the ministry of industry and information technology, said recently that in the process of consolidating the achievements in steel cutting capacity, we should give full play to the role of "hard constraints" on standards. On November 9, the "2019(first) China steel high quality development standardization forum" hosted by the metallurgical industry planning and research institute was held in Beijing. Lu guixin, inspector of the raw material industry department of the ministry of industry and information technology, pointed out at the meeting that in the process of consolidating the achievements in steel cutting capacity, we should give full play to the role of "hard constraints" on standards, and implement laws, regulations and mandatory standards on environmental protection, energy consumption, quality, safety and technology.

He stressed that "steel pipe suppliers that fail to meet the standards shall be rectified within a time limit and those that still fail to meet the standards after rectification shall be resolutely cleared." At present, China's steel industry is in a critical period of transformation and upgrading, doing a good job of standardization is of great significance. Planning institute director said the advanced standard system construction of iron and steel industry can promote the product quality and technological progress, industrial upgrading. It is reported that China's steel industry has basically built including basic general standards, product standards, methods standards and management standards. At the same time, the steel industry standardization work also has some deficiencies. For example, the existing standard system needs to be strengthened in adapting to, promoting and leading industrial transformation and upgrading.The advanced nature and foresight of the standard of hot dipped galvanized rectangular steel tubes are not enough, the revision and formulation cycle is longer, and the lack and lag of the standard still exist.

"To accelerate the transformation and upgrading of the steel industry, we should take the opportunity of comprehensively deepening the standardization reform, constantly improve and upgrade the standard system, and lead the high-quality development of China's steel industry by standards. We should rely on market-based and law-based approaches to cutting overcapacity of mild steel tube, which means relying on laws, regulations and mandatory standards on environmental protection, energy consumption, quality, safety and technology.