Steel seamless tubing process

Steel seamless tubing is a long pipe with no welds on the surface. It is made of a whole round steel and is widely used in petroleum, natural gas, chemical industry, electric power, aerospace and other fields. According to the production method, seamless tubes can be divided into hot-rolled tubes, cold-rolled tubes, cold-drawn tubes, extruded tubes, etc.

Seamless Tubing Production Process:

1. Hot-rolled seamless tubes are generally produced on automatic pipe rolling units. The solid tube blank is inspected and surface defects are removed, cut into the required length, centered on the perforated end of the tube blank, and then sent to the heating furnace for heating and piercing on the punching machine. It continues to rotate and advance during piercing holes. Under the influence of the rollers and the end, the tube blank is hollow gradually, which is called gross pipe. Then it is sent to the automatic pipe rolling machine to continue rolling. Finally, the wall thickness is evened by the leveling machine, and the diameter is determined by the sizing machine to meet the specification requirements. The use of continuous pipe rolling units to produce hot-rolled seamless steel tubes is a more advanced method.

2. If you want to obtain seamless tubes with smaller size and better quality, you must use cold rolling, cold drawing or a combination of the two. Cold rolling is usually carried out on a two-roll mill, and the steel pipe is rolled in an annular pass composed of a variable cross-section circular groove and a fixed conical head. Cold drawing is usually performed on a 0.5 to 100T single-chain or double-chain cold drawing machine.

3. The extrusion method is to place the heated tube blank in a closed extrusion cylinder, and the perforation rod and the extrusion rod move together to make the extrusion part extruded from the smaller die hole. This method can produce steel pipes with smaller diameters.

Classification of Seamless Tubing:
1. According to different production methods, it can be divided into hot-rolled tubes, cold-rolled tubes, cold-drawn tubes, extruded tubes, etc.
2. According to the shape, there are round tubes and special-shaped tubes. In addition to square tubes and rectangular tubes, special-shaped tubes also include oval tubes, semi-circular tubes, triangular tubes, hexagonal tubes, convex-shaped tubes, plum-shaped tubes, etc.
3. According to different materials, they are divided into ordinary carbon structural pipes, low alloy structural pipes, high-quality carbon structural pipes, alloy structural pipes, seamless stainless steel pipes, etc.
4. According to special purposes, there are boiler tubes, mechanical tubes, geological pipes, oil pipes, etc.

The Import and Export Situation of Seamless Tubing:

The import and export situation of China's seamless tubes shows that export volume continues to grow, while import volume has declined. ‌

1. Seamless Pipe Exports
Since 2020, my country's seamless pipe exports have gradually rebounded, particularly in 2023. Total seamless pipe exports are expected to reach a new high of 5.6643 million tons, accounting for 17.98% of total annual production, exceeding the 2014 level. This indicates that both the volume and share of my country's seamless pipe exports are increasing.

China's seamless pipe exports maintained strong momentum in 2023 and 2024, and continued the growth trend in the first half of 2025. In 2024, seamless pipe exports reached 5.7211 million tons. Seamless steel pipe exports saw strong growth in the first half of 2025, but exports declined in June, currently reaching 2.9323 million tons.

2. Seamless Pipe Imports
Although specific data shows a decline in my country's seamless steel pipe imports—for example, in 2023, my country imported approximately 89,400 tons of seamless steel pipe, a year-on-year decrease of 9.79%—imports are still decreasing. Existing data indicates that China's seamless pipe imports are expected to decline annually in 2023 and 2024. This may be due to the expansion of China's domestic seamless pipe production capacity and enhanced self-sufficiency.

Highly Concentrated Sources: China's seamless pipe imports are sourced from a relatively stable source. Japan will be the primary source of imports in both 2023 and 2024. European countries such as Germany and Italy, as well as Romania and the Russian Federation, are also important suppliers.

General trade is the dominant mode of trade: In 2024, "general trade" was the dominant import method, accounting for approximately 77,300 tons of imports annually, a significant portion of total imports. This indicates that most imports are intended to meet direct domestic production and consumption needs.

Major Export Markets:
my country's seamless pipe exports are concentrated in the Middle East and Southeast Asia. Specifically, the United Arab Emirates is the largest export destination for my country's seamless pipes, accounting for 12.77% of total exports in the first quarter of 2025. Other important markets include India, Kuwait, Nigeria, Türkiye, and Indonesia.

Main Export Categories:
Among all types of seamless pipes, seamless pipes for oil and gas pipelines are the largest export product. Furthermore, boiler pipe exports saw impressive growth in the first quarter of 2025, a significant year-on-year increase of 68.58%, demonstrating rapidly expanding demand in specific application areas.

Main Drivers of my country's Export Growth:

China's seamless pipe exports have maintained growth primarily due to the following factors:

1. Significant Price Advantage: Chinese seamless pipes offer competitive advantages in the global market, offering high quality and low prices, which is a core driver of exports. The average export price in 2024 declined year-on-year, creating a "falling price, rising volume" scenario.
2. Strong Overseas Demand: Infrastructure construction and energy projects, particularly in the Middle East and Southeast Asia, provide a stable market for seamless pipe exports.
3. Flexible Trade Methods: Data indicates that general trade is the dominant export method. Furthermore, methods such as "exporting goods for overseas contracting projects" have also driven domestic steel exports through overseas projects.

Industry Dynamics and Future Outlook:

Monthly fluctuations should be viewed with caution: Within the overall growth trend, export data for individual months may experience normal fluctuations. For example, exports in June 2025 experienced a year-on-year decline, but this is typically due to a variety of short-term factors such as shipping schedules and concentrated order deliveries, and should not be over-interpreted.

The long-term outlook remains promising: Overall, the future trend of China's seamless pipe exports will be largely determined by two core factors: overseas demand and its own price advantage. Some analysts predict that annual exports in 2025 may decline slightly from the 2024 peak, but will remain at a high level of 5.2-5.4 million tons.

In short, China's seamless steel pipe exports far exceed its imports, resulting in a significant trade surplus. As China is a major seamless pipe producer, its imports are likely primarily high-value-added pipes made with specialized processes or materials to offset temporary domestic production shortfalls or meet specific high-end demand.

Read more: ERW pipe vs Seamless pipe Cost or China Seamless Steel Pipe Manufacturer and Supplier List