Structural Analysis of China’s Seamless Steel Pipe Exports in Q1

In 2024, the export volume of seamless steel pipes in China was 5.7211 million tons, an increase of about 1% compared to 2023, reaching a new high. Entering 2025, the international trade trend under the influence of tariff turmoil is full of unknowns and adjustments. However, even in this context, China’s seamless pipe exports in the first quarter still showed a significant year-on-year increase. Therefore, the author will conduct a structural analysis of China’s seamless pipe export data in the first quarter and summarize the opportunities and obstacles faced by exports in the future.

1. In the first quarter of 2025, domestic seamless pipe exports showed significant growth

Due to the strong demand for seamless pipes overseas in the first quarter and the obvious price advantage of seamless pipes domestically, comprehensive enterprises completed transactions ahead of schedule to avoid the impact of tariffs. Overall, the performance of domestic seamless pipe export data in the first quarter remains impressive

2. Seamless pipes for oil and natural gas pipelines increased by 25.71% year-on-year

According to customs data compiled by Mysteel, the exports of seamless pipes for oil and gas pipelines, seamless pipes for oil and gas drilling, seamless pipes for geological drilling sleeves, boiler pipes, and other seamless pipes from January to March 2025 were 49.29, 36.07, 0.49, 7.94, and 485600 tons, respectively, accounting for 34.63%, 25.34%, 0.34%, 5.58%, and 34.11%, respectively. Among them, seamless pipes for oil and gas pipelines had the largest export volume

In summary, in the first quarter of 2025, China’s cumulative export of seamless pipes was 1.4151 million tons, showing a significant increase year-on-year. The main reasons for China’s seamless pipe exports to achieve better results are as follows: 1. With the market price correction, the domestic seamless pipe price advantage is more obvious; 2. The demand for seamless pipes abroad, especially in the Middle East, Southeast Asia, and other regions, remains strong, driving domestic seamless pipe exports; 3. The US tariff policy has added uncertainty to international trade, and there are signs of export orders moving forward. Overall, China’s seamless pipes can indeed be considered as “cost-effective”, and China has nearly 70% of the world’s seamless pipe production capacity. The future export trend of seamless pipes is mainly determined by “overseas demand” and “its own price advantage”. Therefore, it is expected that the impact of US tariff policies on seamless pipe exports may be relatively limited, and domestic seamless pipe exports will still have “great potential” in 2025.