Baosteel Large Diameter Longitudinal Welding Pipe Production Line Put into Production

President of Baosteel Group Corporation He Wenbo announced at 11:18 am Sep. 19 that Baosteel Large Diameter Longitudinal Welding Pipe Production Line is officially put into production. The completion and start production of the Line filled the gap of high grade large diameter oil/gas transportation pipe production of China, which would bring along the progress of the production technology of large diameter longitudinal submerged arc welding pipe of China.

Further more it will have far-reaching significance in promoting the development of the national economy and the implementation of China's energy source strategy, by forcefully promoting the construction of the West-to-East Gas Pipe Line No. 2 Project and other major projects of the country.

Vice President of CNPC Liao Yongyuan, Baosteel leaders Li Haiping, Cui Jian, Jiang Licheng & Pang Yuanlin, representatives from engineering design, equipment manufacture, capital & material supply, metallurgic construction, and the foreign cooperator, and people in charge from the parties concerned from Baosteel Co.,Ltd., Baosteel Branch, etc. totally more than 200 people attended the startup ceremony and witnessed this historical moment together.

The Large Diameter Longitudinal Submerged Arc Welding Pipe Project is a major project of the 11th "Five-Year Plan" of Baosteel as well as the first such line in China, and one of the lines with the most advanced equipment in the world at the current time. The construction of this production line was started on Feb. 9, 2006. It comprises the forming line, welding line and finishing line. The designed annual capacity is 500,000 MT/a, including 400,000 MT pipeline pipe and 100,000 MT of structural pipe and so on. The designed maximum steel grade of the products is X100.

Ever since the construction of the project, Baosteel engineers and technicians have been taking a road of independent integration & innovation; they cooperate with the engineering design, equipment manufacture, capital & material supply, metallurgic construction and the foreign supervisors, thus ensured the smooth progress of the project and put the whole line into combined hot commissioning on January 31, 2008.

In order to achieve volume production promptly, with great support from Baosteel Co.,Ltd., Baosteel Branch and other relevant departments, Baosteel Branch Steel Pipe Plant carried out equipment function improvement and key technological problem tackling, focused on production, equipment and process engineering. As a result, they gradually mastered the consistent manufacturing technology of large diameter high grade longitudinal welding pipe, and started to supply X80 pipeline pipe in lots to the West-to-East Gas Pipe Line No. 2 Project. At the moment, the monthly production of the Line has reached 20,000 MT. It has passed the new product appraisal by the CNPC organizations; it marked that Baosteel Large Diameter Longitudinal Welding Pipe Production Line had entered the stage of volume production and supply.