In the January-November period of this year, Chinese steelmaker Hengyang Valin Steel Tube Co. Ltd exported 0.48 million mt of steel pipes, with the export total for the whole of 2010 expected to reach 0.51 million mt, which will be over half of the total steel pipe output of the company for the year.
The volume of steel pipes exported to Europe and the US in January-November this year by Hengyang Valin Steel Tube was less than 10 percent of the company's total export volume for the period, whereas in 2008 the export volume share delivered to Europe and the US was as high as 50 percent. The decline in question is due to EU and US antidumping measures and is also due to the company's exploration of new markets in the Middle East, South Africa, South America and Southeast Asia.
Hengyang Valin Steel Tube has also been focusing on optimizing its product mix, and has been placing greater emphasis on high-tech and high value-added products. In 2010, the company's premium connection tubes with independent intellectual property rights entered the Indonesian and Bangladeshi markets. In addition, its premium V150 casing pipes entered the Syria market during the current year. Also, its newly-developed anti-corrosion casing pipes have been used in oil wells in Central Asia and the Middle East.