On November 20, Hunan Province-based Chinese steelmaker Hengyang Valin Steel Tube Co. (Hengsteel), a subsidiary of Hunan Valin Iron and Steel Group Co., announced that on November 15 it inked a strategic cooperation agreement with China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC), the third-largest national oil company in China.

According to a Hengsteel official, in return for CNOOC choosing Hengsteel as its main domestic steel tube and pipe supplier, Hengsteel will upgrade its product and service quality in order to provide CNOOC with better non-API oil pipes, marine pipes and line pipe products, as well as providing a more tailored service.

Hengsteel is the second-biggest seamless steel tube and pipe producer in China. In 2012, its total sales revenues amounted to RMB 8 billion, while it achieved a steel pipe/tube output of 1.115 million mt.