In 40 years, why has China become the world's largest steel

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In 40 years, why has China become the world's largest steel In 40 years, why has China become the world's largest steel pipe country?

Over the past 40 years of reform and opening up, my country's steel pipe industry has grown from scratch, from small to large, and has achieved rapid development and has also made brilliant achievements. Since 2012, my country's steel pipe production has accounted for more than half of the world's steel pipe production. In 2017, it has increased by 64 times compared with 1978, making my country a veritable steel pipe country. At the same time, my country's steel pipe technical equipment level and steel pipe varieties, specifications, and technical content are all approaching the level of a world power.

At present, China Steel Pipe is transforming and upgrading from rapid development to high-quality development. The strategic goal is green, intelligent and lightweight, and strive to develop into a large and strong modern steel pipe industry. We look back into the depths of history and explore the earth-shaking changes that have taken place in the steel pipe industry, which will affect the reforming force of the steel process.

China has become the world's largest

steel pipe country in 40 years . The position of steel pipe in the steel industry is very important, and the "sheet-to-tube ratio" is one of the benchmark indicators to measure the level of the steel industry. Since the reform and opening up, the socialist market economy has promoted the rapid development of China's steel pipes and created a miracle in the history of the world's steel pipe development.

The output of steel pipes is vying for the first place. In the early days of the founding of New China, my country could not produce seamless steel pipes. It was not until October 27, 1953 that the Angang Seamless Steel Tube Plant introduced the former Soviet Union ϕ76mm mill to roll out a seamless steel pipe. In 1978, my country’s seamless steel pipe production reached 820,000 tons, surpassing Britain and France; in 1983, it reached 1.15 million tons, surpassing Italy; in 1992, it reached 2.65 million tons, surpassing former West Germany; in 1994, it reached 3.04 million tons, making my country a One of the world's largest producers of seamless steel pipes, and has been maintained until now.

In addition to seamless steel pipes, when the People's Republic of China was founded, there was no welded pipe industry in our country, but the steel strip was manually bent into open tube blanks with simple equipment, and the welded pipes were formed by gas welding at the joints. The level was very backward. After the founding of China, the introduction of low-frequency small-diameter (ϕ32mm~ϕ102mm) longitudinally welded pipe units and medium-diameter (ϕ426mm~ϕ630mm) spiral welded pipe units from the former Soviet Union opened the prelude to the development of my country’s welded pipe industry. The development of the industry is mostly limited to the petroleum field. It was not until the reform and opening up that my country’s welded pipe industry began to flourish. In 1978, the output reached 860,000 tons, surpassing the output of seamless steel pipes; the output reached 4.32 million tons in 1994, surpassing all developed countries except Japan; the output reached 6.04 million tons, surpassing Japan, has become the world's largest producer of welded pipes, and it has been maintained until now.

In 2004, China's steel pipe production reached 21.49 million tons, surpassing the 20.84 million tons record set by the former Soviet Union in 1988 in the history of the world's steel pipes. my country has become a major steel pipe producer in the world, and it has been maintained until now. Among the 21.49 million tons of steel pipe output, welded pipes accounted for 13.01 million tons, accounting for 60.54%; seamless pipes accounted for 8.48 million tons, accounting for 39.46%. It can be seen that welded pipes have made a great contribution to China's becoming the world's largest steel pipe country in terms of production. Also in this year, China’s net imports of welded pipes changed from net imports in 2000 to net exports of 300,000 tons; steel pipes also changed from net imports in 2000 to net exports of 360,000 tons, and net exports of steel pipes have been maintained to the present.

In 1978, China's steel pipe output was about 1.68 million tons, of which 820,000 tons of seamless pipes and 860,000 tons of welded pipes. By 2017, the output of steel pipes was 79.27 million tons, including 26.1 million tons of seamless pipes and 53.17 million tons of welded pipes. Among them, after 2012, Chinese steel pipes (including seamless pipes and welded pipes) accounted for more than 50% of the world's annual output of steel pipes (including seamless steel pipes and welded pipes). This is a brilliant achievement made by the reform and opening up of China's steel industry, including the steel pipe industry.

The level of steel pipe technology and equipment has entered the forefront of the world

Since the reform and opening up, with Baosteel's introduction of German seamless steel tube rolling mills as a forerunner, domestic companies have successively introduced high-level steel tube technology and equipment from abroad (mainly Germany, Japan, the United States, Italy, etc.). The domestic metallurgical equipment design and manufacturing system started from digestion and introduction, from imitating development to manufacturing a large number of steel pipe technology equipment with independent intellectual property rights, especially small and medium-sized longitudinal seam welding machines, spiral submerged arc welded pipes and JCOE welded pipe equipment. The level of localization is relatively high. , Some domestically-made welded pipe units realized export. These indicate that my country's steel pipe technology and equipment level has also entered the forefront of the world.

Among seamless steel pipes, we have the world’s largest 360MN (36000 tons) vertical extrusion tube mill, the world’s largest φ460mm "ASSI" three-roll tube rolling mill, a large φ720mm periodic tube rolling mill and a φ1500mm pipe jacking mill. And 4 sets of nuclear power U-tube units, not only reached the world's advanced level, some also occupied the commanding heights of the world's steel pipe technology and equipment. In the welded pipe production line, Baosteel UOEϕ1420mm unit and Baoji Steel Pipe JCOE longitudinal welded pipe units for petroleum systems, spiral submerged arc welded pipe pre-finishing unit, Baosteel ERWϕ610mm unit and Baoji Steel pipe ϕ90mm coiled tubing unit, etc., will be equipped with my country’s welded pipe technology. The level is raised to the forefront.

Process technology innovation and product structure adjustment have achieved fruitful results

Since the reform and opening up, China has overcome difficulties and process technology innovations, so that the quality of steel pipe products has continued to move closer to the international advanced level.

In terms of boiler tubes, my country has built 600 ℃ steam parameter ultra-supercritical thermal power units of about 122.4 million kilowatts (141 units), accounting for 80% of the world's similar installed capacity, ranking first in the world. Shanghai Baosteel has developed P91 supercritical 600℃ high-pressure boiler tubes and the third-generation nuclear power technology CAP1400 690 alloy U-shaped tubes for nuclear power to reach the standard.

In terms of welded pipes, the domestic long-distance natural gas pipeline is currently at steel grade X80, with a gas transmission pressure of 12 MPa and a large diameter of 1,420 mm, which is already at the advanced level in the world. For marine engineering pipes, PetroChina Baoji Steel Pipe Company first developed X80 grade ϕ533.4mm×25.4mm LSAW pipes for marine drilling riser main pipes. Baosteel produced UOE steel pipes (ϕ726mm×31.8mm) for use in Liwan, Hainan. 3-1" deep water (1500 meters) submarine pipeline, high pressure (24 MPa), steel grade X70, reaching the international advanced level. Baoji Steel Pipe Company is an Asian manufacturer capable of producing ϕ90mm high-strength coiled tubing, which not only fills the domestic gap, but also exports to Russia.

Private enterprises, an indispensable force to promote the development of the steel pipe industry The

40-year development history of China Steel Pipe has two notable characteristics: one is that state-owned enterprises stand at the commanding heights of technology, and their products account for a relatively large proportion; the other is that private enterprises have a larger market share. Low-end products account for a relatively large proportion.

After the reform and opening up, with the emancipation of the mind and breaking through the shackles of "surnamed society and capital", the policy allowed township and village system enterprises and private enterprises to supplement the national economy, which led to the emergence of private steel pipe enterprises. At that time, three conditions were also objectively prepared for private enterprises: First, private enterprises started with relatively mature technology of middle and low-end steel pipe products. Because the equipment is easy to start, the steel pipe production line has sprung up in popularity, and private enterprises have rapidly expanded their steel pipe production capacity; The second is the reform and opening up of the talent policy. A group of management talents and technical talents in the steel industry and steel pipe industry have flowed from state-owned enterprises and institutions such as factories, scientific research, design, and academies to private steel pipe enterprises, such as old professors of Shanghai Jiaotong University to private seamless steel pipes. The company is in charge of the Technology Research Institute, and the former chief engineer of Baoji Petroleum Steel Pipe Company retires to serve as the deputy general manager of production in a privately-owned welded pipe enterprise. This has improved the technical level and production capacity of private enterprises; the third is downstream industries (such as construction, gas, textile, The market demand for household appliances, etc.) has expanded and materials are scarce. General steel pipes, especially welded pipes, are in short supply. At the same time, the petroleum system has issued documents supporting high-frequency longitudinal welded pipes (ERW) to replace part of the market demand for seamless steel pipes, which has stimulated welded pipe companies to spread all over the country ( Autonomous regions, municipalities directly under the Central Government), so that the output of private enterprises has increased rapidly.

After 40 years of development, private steel pipe companies have emerged. For example, Jiangsu Changbao Steel Pipe Co., Ltd.’s small-diameter thin-walled precision ultra-high pressure boiler pipes are exported to Japan, Germany, and South Korea; the metallurgical composite pipes developed by Shanghai Tianyang Steel Pipe Co., Ltd. are used in the boiler industry and the petroleum industry and exported. The copper-tin alloy composite pipes and titanium composite pipes developed are used for seawater desalination; the seamless steel pipes for automobiles produced by Changshu steel pipe enterprises have been exported to Japan, South Korea, etc.; the special products developed by Shanghai Xinliang Stainless Steel Pipe Industry Co., Ltd. are exported To the American market; the large-diameter, thick-walled, high-strength alloy seamless steel pipe produced by Dexin Steel Pipe (China) Co., Ltd. is exported to the European chemical pipe market.

Private welded pipe companies also have many bright spots. For example, Shanghai Donghai Bridge requires high strength and good elasticity of guardrail steel pipes. Shanghai Shenhua Steel Pipe Co., Ltd. has developed special high-frequency longitudinal welded pipe material MDB400 ϕ114mm×6mm for special bridge guardrails instead of common material B330 ϕ114mm×12mm seamless steel pipes, saving energy Steel 30%; Guangzhou Panyu Zhujiang Steel Pipe Co., Ltd. introduced MM(E) from Australia and UOE large-diameter LSAW pipe production lines from the United States in 1998 and 1999, respectively, to fill in China’s inability to produce LSAW pipe products. Blank, UOE steel pipes are used in important steel structures of Beijing Olympic venues, and high steel grade (X70, X80) steel pipes for long-distance oil and gas pipelines and subsea pipelines have been developed. Tianjin Youfa Steel Pipe Group Co., Ltd. uses galvanized welded pipe as its main variety, with an annual output of about 10 million tons.

China's steel

pipe industry must overcome difficulties in improving quality in the future. The strategic goal of the steel pipe industry is to achieve green, intelligent, and lightweight. Greening is the bottom line for the survival of an enterprise, intelligence is the commanding height of an enterprise's competitiveness, and weight reduction is the result of matching and optimizing the strength and resilience of the enterprise's products. The purpose of this "three modernizations" is to make enterprises work hard to improve product quality, efficiency and benefits.

It is worth noting that in the past two years, many steel pipe companies have taken measures to strive for high-quality development.

One is to carry out technical transformation of the existing production lines to meet market demand. For example, Baotou Steel Seamless Steel Pipe Company upgraded its ϕ100mm seamless steel pipe production line and transformed; Shougang provided technical support for Jilin Tonghua High Frequency Welded Pipe Enterprise to produce 1000 MPa grade 40mm×40mm×1.2mm ultra-thin cold-formed steel pipes after technological transformation. Square and rectangular welded pipes are suitable for the lightweight needs of automotive pipes.

The second is to build high-level production lines or key equipment. For example, in order to improve the technology and product level, China Metallurgical CCID designed the world's first ϕ89mm three-roll seamless steel pipe line for Linzhou Fengbao Pipe Industry, producing ϕ25mm～ϕ114mm bearing tubes, boiler tubes and other products; Baosteel Yantai Steel Pipe Factory developed the first set of seamless steel pipe online controlled cooling equipment to realize online controlled cooling and quenching, providing innovative ideas; China Heavy Industry Research Institute developed the first set of large-size ϕ730 mm LG-730-HLS servo-controlled two-roll cold rolling The tube machine has reached the international level.

The third is to implement smart manufacturing and major scientific research projects. For example, the seamless steel pipe plant of Valin Steel Pipe was determined by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology as a pilot demonstration project for intelligent manufacturing; the spiral welded pipe production workshop of Baoji Petroleum Steel Pipe Company has been renovated and updated to achieve visualized full-process Internet monitoring, and can be connected to the company’s office computer and leadership mobile phones. Remote monitoring; the national R&D plan led by Anshan Iron and Steel-the start of the low-temperature, high-pressure and high-strength pipeline steel project will play a major role in improving the quality of pipeline steel in my country.

The fourth is to increase the development of new products. For example, Tianjin Pipe Company has developed ϕ114.3mm×19.5mm 4130 high-pressure mud pipes, which have been used on the "Blue Whale No. 1" drilling platform. In addition, the sky tube has completed the special buckle evaluation test for the new type of dual-phase steel casing that is resistant to CO2 and H2S corrosion. Valin Steel Pipe produces extra-large diameter WB36 and P91 seamless steel pipes for the 1.35 million kilowatt project of large thermal power units in the world, Hegang Handan Steel produces 12CrlMoVG high-pressure boiler pipes, and Taigang Stainless Steel Pipe Co., Ltd. develops duplex stainless steel seamless steel pipe series 022Cr25Ni7Mo4N, etc.

The fifth is to achieve environmental protection and energy saving. For example, the water treatment system of Valin Steel Pipe 340 branch plant switches the water pump to frequency conversion control, which can reduce power consumption by 25% every month. Tianjin Pipe Company has passed the energy-saving assessment and assessment of Tianjin Municipal Commission of Industry and Information Technology, and Tianjin has promoted a number of technological transformation and energy-saving projects such as the implementation of blast furnace slag water reuse and steam pipe network optimization and merger for the sky pipe. During the process layout of the newly-built production line of Shandong Luli Group Panjin Seamless Steel Pipe Company, the hot charging, hot delivery and controlled rolling of cast slabs were tried out. This is an original and innovative technical research in the seamless steel pipe industry, but the pace of new construction should be controlled in the future.

The sixth is to reduce costs and increase efficiency. For example, Tianjin Steel Pipe Company seized market opportunities, optimized product structure, tapped potential to reduce costs, and optimized its main business. In the third quarter of 2018, the total profit of the main business increased by 122% year-on-year, maintaining profitability.

The seventh is to promote the resolution of excess production capacity and the reorganization of enterprises. For example, Beijing Jianlong Heavy Industry Group Company reorganized Xilin Iron and Steel Group Company.

Standing at the historical node of 40 years and looking forward to a new journey, China's steel pipe industry should seize the period of development opportunities, seize the initiative, and strive to achieve high-quality development and achieve both big and strong goals.

Excerpt from China Iron and Steel News Network Author: Peng Zaimei