Posted on 17 May 2011
China’s Hangang supplying X80 steel for line pipes Handan Iron & Steel (Hangang), a subsidiary of Hebei Iron & Steel Group in northern China’s Hebei province, is making progress in the production of high-grade hot rolled coil. High-grade HRC is used in making line pipes for oil and gas transportation projects. The company says it is supplying a total of 7,000 tonnes of X80 grade HRC for a major Chinese line pipe maker, Baoji Petroleum Steel Pipe (BSG). The HRC with a width of 1,550mm and thickness of 18.4mm will be used to roll spiral submerged arc welded (SSAW) pipes with diameters of 1,219mm. Hangang says this is the first time for the company to roll X80 HRC with this thickness. A company official says Hangang started commercial production of X80 grade line pipe steel in the second half of 2010. It is the eighth mill in China to commercially produce X80 grade HRC for line pipes. Steel Business Briefing is told by industry sources that more Chinese steel makers have been breaking into the market for line pipe substrate, leading to more intensive competition in the low-medium grade product segment and lower profit margins.
Tier-one mills such as Baosteel and Shougang are developing high-spec and high value-added products (such as HRC for line pipes for acidic environments) to avoid the intense market competition found in lower grade product segments and secure more profits, as SBB reported. The finished SSAW pipes will be used in the Yining-Korgas coal gas pipeline in far western China’s Xinjiang Uyghur autonomous region. The pipeline will be a branch line of the third west-to-east natural gas pipeline project which is to start construction later this year. Tier-one mills such as Baosteel and Shougang are developing high-spec and high value-added products (such as HRC for line pipes for acidic environments) to avoid the intense market competition found in lower grade product segments and secure more profits, as SBB reported. The finished SSAW pipes will be used in the Yining-Korgas coal gas pipeline in far western China’s Xinjiang Uyghur autonomous region. The pipeline will be a branch line of the third west-to-east natural gas pipeline project which is to start construction later this year.
