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Tubes & Pipes
Outlook It can be quite depressing when the pundits start talking about overproduction , deindustrialization and Europe . The Old Continent ’ s industries are faced with mounting fuel prices and increased competition from China and other Asian countries . But whereas European steel market is in crisis , the stainless-steel tube and pipe industry is buoyant , even in Europe : the sector is projected to show a CAGR of 4.8 % between 2023 and 2034 ( 1 ) . Oil & gas , food & drink , auto and infrastructure ( including water pipes ) are the sectors that account for most of the demand . In Europe , green energy and decarbonization will be an important growth area as the world moves towards net zero .
Investments The buoyant mood of the stainless tube & pipe sector can be gauged by the number of capacity additions currently under way . To meet increasing demand for remelted high nickel and stainless steel and tubes , Alleima is installing a fourth VAR furnace at Sandviken , to expand production of nickel alloys and grades such as Sanicro ® 625 and Sanicro ® 925 for aerospace , medical and oil & and gas . Marcegaglia UK has announced it will offer electro-welded stainlesssteel tubes ( mainly in type 304 ) at its Oldbury site . In the USA , Global Seamless Tubes & Pipes will establish its first US production facility in north-west Louisiana , catering for the engineering , oil & gas and power generation sectors . Tube maker Corrosion Resistant Alloys has just completed a manufacturing facility in Brenham , Texas . A Turkish subsidiary of Taiwan ’ s YC Inox has increased capacity for its stainless-steel pipe output . In 2024 India ’ s Viraj Profiles inaugurated its advanced Piercer Mill at its new stainless-steel seamless pipe plant . In the UAE Raccortubi opened a warehouse to serve the oil & gas industry .
Processing plant at ENI ’ s Argo Cassiopea offshore gas field in Sicily , Italy .
Stainless-steel exhaust system from a racing car .
Markets Oil & gas in fact remains the no . 1 client of stainless-steel tubes and pipes . This would probably be true even if President Trump had not vowed to “ drill , baby , drill ”. The US president has revoked his predecessor ’ s bans of drilling and fracking on federal lands and in coastal waters . The deepwater sector is likely to increase sharply , requiring stainless steel tubes to bring the hydrocarbons from sea level to surface . Several contracts have been signed or renewed . Petrobras has signed a contract with Tubacex for supplying its offshore fields in Brazil . Tubacex has also been awarded API Spec Q1 certification for a manufacturing plant in
Aiming high
Walsin Lihwa , a Taiwanese producer of stainlesssteel long products , has been on a buying spree , through its Italian subsidiary Cogne Acciai Speciali ( CAS ), a European leader in stainless steel bars and wire rods . Walsin acquired CAS in 2022 , and a year later CAS acquired two rolling mills in Sweden from Outokumpu to penetrate North European markets . In the same year it bought UK-based Special Melted Products , a manufacturer of specialty steels and nickel-based superalloys used in critical applications . CAS continued to aim high with its acquisition of Inox , a stainless-steel and nickel-alloy recycling company . And in November of last year the Italian company acquired Mannesmann Stainless Tubes Group ( MST ) from the Salzgitter Group . ( Its name has been changed to “ DMV ”.) All in all , a resounding vote of confidence in the higher end of the stainless-steel and CRA sectors , in vertical integration and in global presence .
38 Heat Exchanger World March 2025 www . heat-exchanger-world . com