Spiral welded pipe, also known as a helical welded pipe, is a steel-based pipe primarily designed for a long-distance transport pipeline system that facilitates the efficient flow of liquids and gases in particular. The pipe is manufactured from the flattened strip/coils of steel, which is converted into a large diameter spiral welded steel pipe. In other words, the flattened steel strip is rolled into a certain spiral angle and is shaped into a cylinder of the targeted diameter, with both the interior and exterior of the pipe are sealed together using submerged arc welding. Then, the pipes are coated with various coating chemicals to prevent corrosion and rusting.

These pipes are generally made to be thick and tough that offer good tensile strength and ensure the water pressure test, which is the basic requirement for liquid transport pipeline systems. The pipes are available in different diameters, lengths, and wall thicknesses to meet a variance of requirements from different industries. Owing to these advantages, welded pipes are widely used across industries including the chemical industry, petrochemical industry, water engineering, agricultural irrigation, electric power industry, and urban construction.

The products have a wide range of applications such as crude oil transmission, natural gas transmission, water transmission, and refined products transmission. Among the end-users, oil & gas, wastewater treatment plants, and chemicals are the major consumers for spiral welded pipes since they are applied for a wide range of applications in these industries.

Spiral welded pipe is widely adopted for various applications across industries in the Middle East since the region has the largest crude oil reserve but lacks the availability of fresh water for drinking. The rapid growth of desalination plants to produce drinking water in the region play an important role in the market expansion of spiral welded pipe since these pipes are suitable for freshwater extraction by removing salt that present in the ocean water.

Three Major Types of Spiral Welded Pipe

The three major types of spiral welded pipe include electric resistance welding (ERW) pipes, longitudinally submerged arc welded (LSAW) pipes, and spiral submerged arc welded (SSAW) pipes.

  • Electric Resistance Welding (ERW) Pipes

ERW pipes are produced through a process of cold bending of a sheet of steel into a targeted cylindrical shape. It involves a welding process that joins metals by applying pressure and create an electron bond of the metals joint using electric current. The current, after passing through the two edges of metals, form a bond and heats the steel. One of the major advantages of this welded pipe is that it is a cost-effective process since it does not require other welding filler materials to create the bond between the two edges of the steel. Some of the examples of ERW pipes include spot welding, induction welding, and flash welding. ERW pipes offer a diameter range from 1/8 inches to 6 inches with medium and heavy wall thickness of the pipelines, which are widely used in applications such as central heating purposes.

  • Longitudinally Submerged Arc Welded (LSAW) Pipes

LSAW pipes are longitudinal pipes that involve the manufacturing process of welding and bending wide steel plates to pipes from leveled hot rolled coils. These pipes are produced by using two methods; namely the JCOE and UOE, which signify that the forming process of the plates is associated with key letters such as “J”, “O”, “C”, or “U” shape. These types of welding pipes adopt a specific welding technique that facilitates to produce a high wall thickness products, which are widely used for high internal or external pressure liquid transmission purposes.

Owing to these advantages, the pipes are widely used in various applications including oil & natural gas transport, water supply, and sewage treatment. LSAW pipes offer a range of diameter sizes varying from 16 inches to 60 inches, with 50.8 mm wall thickness of the products, which are widely used in the oil & gas industry for transporting fossil fuels such as petroleum and crude oil.

  • Spiral Submerged Arc Welded (SSAW) Pipes

SSAW pipes are large-diameter steel pipes and are manufactured using a spiral shape welding process where the steel trip is rolled toward the center of the pipe and then welded into a spiral line. In other words, SSAW pipes are made up of using hot-rolled coiled steel by applying a double-sided submerged arc welding method.

These pipes can be produced in longer lengths at a maximum length up to 50 meters and are available in different sizes for different applications. One of the key advantages of the SSAW pipes is that they are adjustable as per the requirement of various end-users and have good tensile strength as well. The pipes offer a range of diameter sizes between 18 inches and 100 inches, with 25.4 mm wall thickness that can be adjusted as per the requirements of different applications.

Factors Influencing the Market Performance

Drivers

  • Rising adoption of the pipeline system for the transport of fossil fuel, water, and oil refined products across the globe is expected to drive the market expansion in the coming years.
  • The wide application of spiral welded pipes for various residential and commercial purposes as a wastewater transport mechanism is anticipated to fuel the overall market growth.
  • Increasing demand for oil and other natural gases to facilitate the mode of transportation globally is expected to push the market growth further.
  • Rising number of desalination plants and wide adoption of the pipes for the desalination process is projected to boost the market development in the coming years.

Restrains

  • The ongoing COVID-19 brought adverse impact on the spiral welded pipes market as it forced to shut the production units across the globe.
  • Demand for petroleum and other oil resources has been shrinking significantly due to the harsh impact of the COVID-19, which put a drastic halt on the public transport system globally.
  • Risks associated with pipeline leakage and the high cost of pipeline maintenance are key restraining factors that can impede the market growth.

Opportunities

  • Rising water pollution and increasing wastewater released from commercial and industrial units require the spiral welded pipe to manage the waste properly, thereby, creating lucrative opportunities for the market growth.
  • Growing R&D activities from key players in the market are projected to offer immense prospects for the market development.

Market Outlook and Segment Performance

According to a recent report published by Growth Market Reports, The Middle East spiral welded pipe market was valued at US$ 6,355 Million in 2019 and is projected to reach US$ 9,341 Million by 2027 expanding at a CAGR of 5.1 % during the forecast period, 2020-2027.

On the basis of types, the Middle East spiral welded pipe market is divided into ERW pipes, LSAW pipes, and SSAW pipes. ERW and SSAW are small diameter and medium diameter pipes while SSAW is the largest among the types. The ERW segment is expected to witness a significant share of the market during the forecast period owing to its wide application in several transport pipeline activities including gathering pipelines, distribution pipelines, and transmission pipelines.

In terms of applications, the market is segmented into crude oil transmission, natural gas transmission, refined products transmission, and water transmission. The water transmission segment held a dominant share accounting for more than 42% of the global market in 2019 and is expected to hold a major share of the market during the forecast period. At present, the majority countries in the region are facing water scarcity and water supply problems due to the lack of fresh water availability. Several governments in the region have started various policies and increased spending for the development of the desalination process and fresh water extraction activities. This leads to the rising demand for spiral welded pipe for water transmission applications, the segment is followed by construction & infrastructure in the region.

Based on end-users, the Middle East spiral welded pipe market is categorized as oil & gas industry, wastewater treatment industry, construction & infrastructure industry, and other industries. The oil & gas industry segment is expected to constitute a large market share in the coming years owing to rising demand for oil energy across the globe due to rapid development of factories and transportation systems.

Market Standing of Countries in the Middle East

The Middle East spiral welded pipe market is segregated into Saudi Arabia, Iran, Iraq, Egypt, the UAE, and Rest of Middle East. Saudi Arabia, which has the largest reserves of oil in the world, held a dominant share of the market in 2019 and is expected to constitute a CAGR of 7.4% of the market share during the forecast period. Rising demand for oil consumption and growing production of crude oil for export are the key factors that push the demand for the pipes in the country. In the region, Iraq and Saudi Arabia are currently holding the largest oil pipeline systems and rising development of new oil extraction plants in these countries prove to be key factors that can fuel the market expansion. The market in UAE is anticipated to register a CAGR of 5.3% during the targeted period owing to the rising use of the pipes for desalination plants.

Competitive Landscape of the Market

Some of the key players in the Middle East spiral welded pipe market include ArcelorMittal S.A.; JFE Holdings, Inc.; VALLOUREC; Welspun Corp Ltd.; PAO TMK; Jindal SAW Ltd.; SeAH Steel; Al Jazeera Steel Products Co. SAOG; Tenaris; APC; National Pipe Company Limited; and EEW GROUP.

Many players have been actively engaged in the development of the market by deploying several market strategies such as product launches, acquisition & mergers, partnership, collaboration, and expansion of production units to enhance their market position and presence in the global market.

ArcelorMittal S.A., a steel giant based in Luxembourg City, is one of the major global players in the steel industry and has been a key player in the Middle East spiral welded pipe market. It offers steel-based pipeline solutions for several industrial units such as oil & gas, automotive, and construction sectors while providing its service to regions such as Asia Pacific, Europe, Africa and Middle East, and North America. The company is presently listed on stock exchanges of countries such as Paris, Amsterdam, New York, and Brussels.

Al Jazeera Steel Products Company SAOG, an Oman-based company, is one of the key global competitors in the manufacture and sale of steel products. Formerly known as Al Jazeera Tube Mills Company S.A.O.G., it offers services related to the Middle East spiral welded pipe market by producing Electric Resistance Welded tubular products across several countries. It exports products to 25 countries including the United States, Canada, Australia, Germany, and other European Union countries