Domestic steel pipes producers are hoping to increase exports of steel pipes with a diameter of less than 10 inches to US, saying the market offers great potential due to high demand and low supply.

Industry insiders said that demand for steel pipes in the US is huge, with not many countries and territories, including Taiwan , mainland China and Vietnam , manufacturing the product.

The director of the Son Ha International Joint-Stock Co, Le Vinh Son, said that his company expects to export roughly 2,000 tonnes of steel pipes monthly to the US during the next two years.

Vietnam Steel Association vice chairman Nguyen Tien Nghi said that Hoa Phat, Viet Duc and SeAH Steel are among Vietnamese companies currently manufacturing steel pipes. The latter two began exporting steel pipes to the US late last year, with annual export revenue totalling several million dollars.

However, authorities also producers that Vietnam was also among six countries which faced complaints from US steel pipe producers over alleged dumping.

Us trade authorities have yet to investigate steel pipes imported from Vietnam, as total steel pipe imports from Vietnam make up only 2.55 percent of the US steel market. According to US rules, if the percentage abruptly climbs to 3 percent, they would launch an anti-dumping probe.

But sources from steel pipe manufacturers believe that Vietnam ’s steel pipe exports to such a huge market as the US would be extremely unlikely to break the 3 percent threshold./.