From 2023 to 2025, China's stainless steel industrial pipe industry achieved high-quality growth. The output rose from 4.85 million tons to 5.4 million tons, with an average annual compound growth rate of 4.8%, and the market scale simultaneously increased from 79 billion yuan to 91.2 billion yuan. The driving forces of growth showed significant structural characteristics: high-end products such as duplex steel, super austenitic and nickel-based alloys achieved an annual growth rate of over 12%, far exceeding the industry average; while the growth rate of mid-to-low-end products with traditional 304/316 materials was maintained below 3%, and the effect of capacity optimization was remarkable. As of 2025, the industry had eliminated a total of 400,000 tons of backward production capacity, and the average operating rate increased to 82%. The trend of resources concentrating towards efficient production capacity was obvious.

In terms of regional layout, the four provinces of Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Guangdong, and Shandong gathered more than 70% of the country's production capacity, forming two major high-end industrial clusters in the Yangtze River Delta and Pearl River Delta. Among them, the annual output value of Wenzhou Industrial Park in Zhejiang exceeded 50 billion yuan, becoming an important global production base. The market concentration continued to rise; the market share of the top ten enterprises increased from 52% in 2023 to 58.3% in 2025, and it is expected that CR10 will break through 62% by 2030. Leading enterprises showed a differentiated competition trend: Baosteel Special Steel and Taigang Stainless Steel focused on high-end industrial scenarios such as nuclear power and LNG; Jubilant Special Steel cut into global hydrogen energy projects by obtaining international certifications such as ASME and PED; and Qingtou Group relied on low-cost advantages to expand the market in people's livelihood fields.

The supply-demand structure is transitioning from a dynamic balance of "shortage of high-end products and surplus of mid-to-low-end products". In key fields such as nuclear power, LNG storage and transportation, and hydrogen energy equipment, the self-sufficiency rate of high-end pipes has reached 85%, and the supply shortage of Φ219mm and above large-diameter thick-walled pipes has been alleviated. However, the import dependence of low-sulfur ultra-low carbon 316L MOD material pipes for semiconductors and ultra-thin-walled pipes for aerospace is still as high as 42% and 68%, which have become the core key directions for domestic substitution. The export market performed brilliantly; the export volume is expected to reach 820,000 tons in 2025, mainly flowing to Southeast Asia, the Middle East and Eastern Europe. The export value of high-end welded pipes increased by 34.7% year-on-year, and the product added value continued to improve.