How to improve the international recognition of Chinese stainless steel pipe enterprises?

The Chinese stainless steel pipe industry started late and developed relatively slowly before the 1980s. TISCO is the earliest enterprise in China to develop and produce stainless steel tubes.

So far, it has more than 60 years of experience in the production of stainless steel tubes. However, until 1998, as the world's stainless steel pipe companies began to seize the Chinese market, Nisshin was in Ningbo, Zhejiang, Germany, TKStainless in Shanghai, and Taiwan (YUSCO) in Guangzhou, Guangdong. South Korea's Posco (POSCO) has established Sino-foreign joint venture stainless steel pipe enterprises in Zhangjiagang, Jiangsu, and Qingdao, Shandong. TISCO realized the importance of the international market and established the strategic goal of building the most competitive stainless steel pipe company in the world in 2004, and officially attached importance to exports. After a series of advanced equipment introduction and technological innovation, by 2007, TISCO has become the world's largest stainless steel pipe enterprise with the highest production capacity, the highest level of technology and equipment, and the most complete specifications.

Recently, Taigang's stainless steel products cover a wide range, stainless steel composite panels, high-grade cold-rolled silicon steel, electromagnetic pure iron, high-strength automotive beam steel, train axle steel, tread plate, welding bottle steel, etc., stainless steel products have entered Into key industries such as petroleum, petrochemical, railway, automobile, shipbuilding, container, and coinage. Not only that, many of Taigang's products have been recognized by international associations. For example, in January 2012, TISCO passed the ASME MO (Material Organization) Nuclear Power Product Quality System Certification issued by the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASMF). In December 2012, Taigang's duplex stainless steel threaded steel bar was successfully certified by the British CARES certification body, becoming the first domestic manufacturer of this qualified duplex stainless steel threaded steel bar. At the seminar on localization of high-grade seamless steel tubes for power station boilers, which ended in August 2013, the quality of SUPER304H and HR3C seamless steel tubes for ultra-supercritical power station boilers developed by Taigang was evaluated to the advanced level of international similar products. It can be seen that the quality of stainless steel products produced by TISCO has completely reached the level of world-renowned stainless steel manufacturers.

Despite this, TISCO's products are still less recognized in the international market than other established stainless steel manufacturers. Although Taigang has developed a number of stainless steel grades for high-end applications, in most cases only domestic companies are willing to use them, such as Qinshan Nuclear Power Station, Three Gorges Dam, “Harmony” high-speed train, Olympic venues, Shenzhou series of spaceships. Domestic large-scale projects such as the Heyue Exploration Project. However, internationally, TISCO's products rarely receive orders from major projects.

Among the stainless steel manufacturers in Asia, the price of Japanese stainless steel products is much higher than that of other Asian stainless steel manufacturers. Currently, Taigang's biggest competitor is South Korea's Pohang. Prior to 2004, Posco had established 25 wholly-owned or joint venture companies in China, the United States and Southeast Asia. The sound overseas sales network made Posco's products widely accepted by stainless steel users around the world. Therefore, when overseas customers choose stainless steel products, customers will give priority to South Korea's Pohang products at the same price. Chinese stainless steel manufacturers have to resort to price cuts in order to gain market share. For example, in October 2013, the market price of 304 CRC in the Korean stainless steel market was around 2.7 million won/ton, and the circulation price of 304 CRC imported from Europe in the Korean market and the price of Pohang. The base wood is the same, and the 304 CRC imported from China can only be sold at 255-2.6 million won/ton. In the Southeast Asian market, the brand effect of South Korea’s Pohang’s exports to the region was earlier than Taigang’s. At present, most end users are reluctant to accept Taigang's products. Even if Taigang drives down the sales price, the order harvest is minimal.

Chinese stainless steel pipe manufacturers' products are also facing the same problem when they are exported. Many end users are required to take samples for testing. In the case of qualified inspections, they have repeatedly requested price reductions before they can use Chinese stainless steel pipe products. It is a big country in the manufacture of stainless steel pipes, but there is still a long way to go before the stainless steel powers. How to improve the international recognition of China's stainless steel pipe enterprises, and the export of China's stainless steel pipes is imminent.