On June 19, Hunan Province-based Chinese steelmaker Hengyang Valin Steel Tube Co. Ltd. (Hengsteel), a subsidiary of Hunan Valin Iron & Steel Group Co., Ltd., announced that in the January-May period this year it exported 254,100 mt of steel pipes, up 22.5 percent, with foreign currency earnings totaling $269 million, up 2.4 percent, both on year-on-year basis. In 2012, Hengsteel's steel pipe export volume had amounted to 578,000 mt, with earnings of $740 million.
In recent years, Hengsteel's focus in its overseas sales has moved from the European market to markets in the Middle East, South America and Africa. In the last three years, the company's average annual steel pipe export volume exceeded 500,000 mt. Furthermore, Hengsteel is also active in developing new steel pipe products to cater for global market demand. Its high value-added products account for 40 percent of its overall export volume.