As early as mid-January, large and medium-sized seamless steel tube factories in China began the "one-sided upward" approach, which has now continued for seven months, reaching a record high of 17.3653 million tons, creating a new high in the past five years. Due to the lack of significant demand from end-users, seamless steel tube factories are普遍 experiencing issues such as excess inventory of stainless steel plates and capital shortages. The inventory pressure in the later stages is expected to gradually ease as demand picks up.
In recent years, although some progress has been made in the collaborative asset restructuring of the seamless steel tube sector in our country, the industry concentration remains low, and the characteristics of the field have not fundamentally changed, with a large number of companies but small operating scales. Particularly, the rapid expansion of regional small and medium-sized seamless steel tube factories in recent years has continuously reduced the proportion of large and medium-sized seamless steel tube factories, further reducing the industry concentration. Promoting the collaborative asset restructuring of companies and enhancing concentration is a crucial step in addressing many challenges in the seamless steel tube field. To better promote development trends, the "Iron and Steel Industry Development Policy" focusing on enhancing the concentration of seamless tube factories has been issued. According to the overall planning and forecasts of the "Iron and Steel Industry Development Policy," the concentration of seamless steel tube smelting companies will significantly increase, with the number greatly reduced. The production of seamless steel tube factories of Chinese corporations will account for more than 50% of the national total output, reaching over 70% by 2020.
The fifth major merger of global steel companies has been gradually unfolding. The total transaction value of acquiring world seamless steel tube processing plants reached $91 billion. In the U.S., Japan, and Europe, mergers and acquisitions have established a strong global influence in the steel industry. It is this critical international experience that has made the seamless steel tube sector more focused on mergers and the resultant developmental effects.
Many professionals from Tianjin Haicheng Huajun Trade Co., Ltd. indicate that the current market price of seamless steel pipes remains at a low level, as downstream demand has not fully materialized and the inventory in the sales market needs time to be absorbed. The supply situation of high-pressure seamless steel pipes in the short-term steel market is still unable to improve. However, as terminal equipment requirements gradually increase in the later stages, the supply pressure is expected to ease gradually.
The integration with the seamless steel tube industry worldwide dates back to the late 19th to early 20th centuries. JP. Morgan acquired 785 large, medium, and small seamless steel tube factories, merging them into U.S. Steel Corporation, creating a very successful enterprise with over $1 billion in world property. It also controlled 70% of the seamless steel tube production in the U.S., initiating large-scale industrial mergers on a global scale.
