Affected by US steel import quotas, especially foroil-specific pipes, South Korea’s steel pipe exports fell sharply in the firsthalf of the year, making it difficult for the Korean steel pipe industry toobtain new export orders.

According to the latest data from the Korea Iron and SteelAssociation, in June, the export volume of special oil pipes of South Koreafell to 231 tons, down 99.7% year-on-year. In the first half of the year, theexport volume of special oil pipes of South Korea fell to 229,900 tons, down54% year-on-year.

Since the beginning of this year, South Korea's major steelpipe manufacturer, Nexteel, has been cultivating the domestic market and isworking hard to increase the output of non-alloy coated rectangular steelpipes.