The application prospects of steel pipes in the new energy vehicle industry are attracting attention

Welded steel pipes for automobiles are one of the most important types of precision welded pipes. The main types of welded steel pipes for automobiles include pipes for automobile transmission shafts, automobile mufflers, automobile condensers, automobile exhausts, automobile control shafts, automobile thrust pipes, automobile shock absorber oil storage pipes, etc. Seamless steel pipe for automotive half shaft sleeve (GB3088-82) is a high-quality hot-rolled seamless steel pipe made of carbon structural steel and alloy structural steel used for manufacturing automotive half shaft sleeve and drive axle housing shaft tube.

In addition, stainless steel pipes are also widely used in automobiles. Stainless steel pipes are mainly used in automobile exhaust systems, accounting for more than half of the total amount of stainless steel used in automobiles, with 80% being ferritic stainless steel. The exhaust gas generated by the car engine flows out of the muffler through the exhaust intake pipe, front pipe, hose, converter, and center pipe. The commonly used steel grades for exhaust systems include 409L, 436L, etc. Car mufflers mainly use stainless steel welded pipes. According to estimates, stainless steel pipes used in automobiles account for approximately 1.5% of the total downstream users' usage of stainless steel pipes, while the ratio of seamless stainless steel pipes to welded pipes is approximately 2:1.

In addition, the cantilever bracket tube is used for the rear axle of the chassis, and the steel pipes used for the front axle assembly of the chassis include axle sleeves, bearing sleeves, and brake pedal support tubes. The pipes used for cooling air conditioning systems mainly include cooling water pipes, air conditioning pipes, and sensor pipes. Special requirements for steel pipes for steering shock absorbers include steel pipes for cylinder bodies and steel pipes for storage tanks. Hollow shaft tubes are used in transmission systems. Seat tubes are mainly used for seat frames. Ultra high strength steel pipes are used for side door anti-collision bars. It can be seen that steel pipes are widely used in automobiles.

High strength fasteners for automobiles also use stainless steel seamless steel pipes. According to industry insiders, automobiles are equipment products, and fasteners are one of the key components of automobiles. The average amount of fasteners used for passenger cars (whole vehicles) is about 37 kilograms. The domestic supply of high-strength fasteners for cars in our country is less than 25%, and most of them need to be purchased from abroad. At present, domestic enterprises such as Baosteel are optimistic about this market and are committed to developing seamless stainless steel pipes. According to industry insiders' analysis, the expected trend of China's automobile production and sales in 2012 may be better than in 2011, with a vehicle growth rate of 5%. The steel consumption in the automotive industry is expected to reach 44 million tons in 2012 (compared to 40 million tons in 2011), including approximately 800000 tons of steel pipes.

In the future, hybrid power systems will rapidly develop as a transitional solution, so new energy vehicles also require steel pipes. Even pure electric vehicles still need steel pipes, such as seamless steel pipes for electric vehicle shock absorption. Some car manufacturers have developed a utility model electric four-wheel vehicle with a steel pipe frame. The chassis, subframe, double longitudinal beams, front upper bracket, and rear upper bracket of the car are fixedly connected by steel pipes to form a whole. Many domestic steel pipe manufacturers have developed shock absorber steel pipes for electric vehicles and cold-rolled steel pipes for electric vehicles. These cold-rolled steel pipes for electric vehicles have high mechanical performance requirements, so they require high chemical composition and elongation properties of the raw materials. At present, the specifications of shock absorber steel pipes for electric vehicles and cold-rolled steel pipes for electric vehicles are mainly concentrated in the small diameter range.

The Development Plan for Energy Conservation and New Energy Vehicle Industry (2012-2020) proposes that by 2015, the cumulative production and sales of pure electric vehicles and plug-in hybrid vehicles should strive to reach 500000 units; By 2020, the production capacity of pure electric vehicles and plug-in hybrid vehicles will reach 2 million units, with a cumulative production and sales volume of over 5 million units. With the implementation of the "Energy Conservation and New Energy Vehicle Industry Development Plan (2012-2020)", the demand for steel pipes in the automotive industry will be further released. At the same time, the automotive industry has put forward higher requirements for the quality and performance of steel pipes.

About 2/3 of the steel pipes used in imported cars or components are high-precision welded steel pipes or high-precision welded cold drawn (or cold-rolled) steel pipes. The development of such steel pipe products in our country lags behind and still relies on imports to make up for it. At present, there are few types and specifications of welded steel pipes in China, and the deburring process for welded steel pipes is unstable. Therefore, the development of automotive steel pipes generally uses cold drawn and cold-rolled seamless steel pipes instead of high-precision welded steel pipes. In order to save energy and reduce vehicle weight, welded steel pipes for automobiles should be developed towards high strength and toughness, so that China's welded steel pipes for automobiles can reach or exceed the world's advanced level.

The implementation of the "Development Plan for Energy Conservation and New Energy Vehicle Industry (2012-2020)" will promote the rapid development of China's automotive industry and provide market opportunities for the localization of precision steel pipes for automobiles. With the continuous emergence of new models and the increasing requirements for energy conservation and environmental protection in automobiles, it can be foreseen that the market for automotive steel pipes will be very huge. Recently, the "Twelfth Five Year Plan for the Development of Shanghai's Steel Industry" was issued, which clearly identified the steel required for the development of new energy vehicles in Shanghai as the development focus of the steel industry during the "Twelfth Five Year Plan" period. The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology plans to increase the automobile production capacity during the 12th Five Year Plan period to 23 million to 31 million vehicles by 2015. Based on the experience data of steel consumption in various parts of automobile manufacturing, it is estimated that the average steel consumption of a passenger car is about 1 ton, while the steel consumption of commercial vehicles is about 9 tons, 4 tons, 1.5 tons, and 0.8 tons respectively in the order of heavy, medium, light, and micro. Among them, the average proportion of special steel is 30%. It can be seen that steel pipes will have great potential in the automotive industry in the future, and the market prospects for automotive steel pipes are promising.