Since 2025, China's special steel pipe industry has achieved flourishing development in six major categories: Carbon Steel Pipe, Low Temperature Steel Pipe, Boiler Pipe, Alloy Steel Pipe, High Temperature Steel Pipe, and Precision Steel Pipe. Leading enterprises such as Tianjin Pipe Corporation, Baotou Steel (Group) Corp., and Daye Special Steel have leveraged their technological innovation capabilities and production capacity advantages to not only realize domestic substitution of key products but also secure a significant position in the global high-end market, providing core support for strategic industries including energy, chemical engineering, and marine engineering.
Multi-category Products Precisely Meet Extreme Working Condition Requirements
In complex scenarios such as alumina production, oil refining, and deep-sea oil and gas development, different types of steel pipes form a collaborative service system:
Carbon Steel Pipe has become a mainstay in basic industries due to its cost-effectiveness. The X65 grade acid-resistant Carbon Steel Pipe developed by CNPC Baoshishun, used as the outer material of bimetallic composite pipes, provides mechanical support for deep-sea oil and gas transportation. A single batch of supplies has been adapted to multiple drilling platforms in the South China Sea;
High Temperature Steel Pipe has broken through performance bottlenecks. The large-diameter dissolution casing pipe produced by Tianjin Pipe Corporation adopts special alloys and advanced heat treatment processes, which increases the service life by 50% in the high-temperature and high-alkali environment of alumina projects and helps reduce the equipment failure rate of customers by nearly 40%;
Alloy Steel Pipe has seen accelerated technological iteration. The super 13Cr rare earth corrosion-resistant casing pipe from Baotou Steel (Group) Corp. undergoes nickel-molybdenum element strengthening and rare earth microalloying treatment, with sulfide corrosion resistance 3 times higher than ordinary pipes, making it suitable for "three ultra" (ultra-deep, ultra-high pressure, ultra-high temperature) oil and gas development needs;
Boiler Pipe is targeted at green transformation. The improved P91 alloy Boiler Pipe developed by Baosteel has a creep rupture strength of 120MPa at 650℃. It has been applied in the hydrocracking unit of Sinopec Zhenhai Refining & Chemical Co., Ltd., achieving 28 consecutive months of leak-free operation;
Low Temperature Steel Pipe and Precision Steel Pipe have emerged prominently in the marine engineering field. The quenched and tempered Precision Steel Pipe from Daye Special Steel is used in key parts of the "Dream" drilling ship, and its low-temperature toughness indicators meet the requirements of the extreme deep-sea environment of -20℃.
Production Capacity and Innovation Build Global Competitive Advantages
Behind the industrial upgrading is the systematic improvement of full-chain capabilities. Tianjin Pipe Corporation has built an integrated production line from smelting to finishing. In 2025, it has supplied 150,000 tons of products for 12 major domestic and foreign alumina projects, with large-diameter High Temperature Steel Pipe accounting for over 50%; CNPC Baoshishun has overcome the welding challenges between nickel-based alloys and carbon steel, and its independently developed bimetallic composite pipe has broken foreign monopolies and obtained certification from China Classification Society. According to industry reports, the domestic demand for high-end special steel pipes is expected to exceed 450,000 tons in 2025, with the localization rate rising to 72%. Among them, high-end categories such as high-temperature alloy pipes and precision corrosion-resistant pipes will achieve a growth rate of over 15%.
Policy and Market Drive High-quality Development
Driven by the "Three-Year Action Plan for the High-end, Intelligent and Green Development of the Oil Refining and Chemical Industry", leading enterprises are accelerating the layout of green manufacturing and digital transformation. Tianjin Pipe Corporation realizes customized delivery through a digital management and control platform; Baotou Steel (Group) Corp. builds a characteristic alloy pipe brand relying on rare earth resource advantages; Daye Special Steel extends its products to high-end equipment fields such as deep-sea oil storage and unloading and transoceanic bridges. Industry experts point out that with the rise of emerging industries such as hydrogen energy and biomass energy, the special steel pipe industry is shifting from "scale expansion" to "quality breakthrough". The coordinated development of the six categories will provide core material guarantees for the independent and controllable development of China's equipment manufacturing industry.
