During export transportation, spiral steel pipes typically undergo long-distance sea freight, multiple port handling operations, and exposure to high-humidity, high-salt environments. Therefore, export packaging is not only for appearance but also for rust prevention, impact protection, and deformation resistance.

To ensure that steel pipes arrive at overseas customers in perfect condition, the following is a standard and industry-practice packaging and protection solution:

I. Pipe End Protection (Protecting the Beveled Ends)

Spiral steel pipes are welded on-site during installation, so the pipe ends (bevels) are the most vulnerable parts and require special protection.

Plastic Pipe Caps

Method: Install or insert plastic protective caps at both ends of the steel pipe.
Function: Prevents impact damage or deformation of the beveled ends during lifting and handling, and also prevents rainwater, seawater mist, and debris from entering the pipe.

Pipe End Reinforcement Rings

Method: For large-diameter and heavy-duty spiral steel pipes, plastic caps may fall off or break. In such cases, metal protection rings (made of steel strips or iron sheets) are used and riveted tightly to the pipe ends.
Function: Provides stronger mechanical protection for the bevel area during transport and loading/unloading.

II. Pipe Body Protection (Anti-Corrosion and Physical Isolation)

During sea transportation, high salt fog and temperature changes may cause “container rain,” leading to surface rust.

Anti-Corrosion Coating / End Masking

Method: The pipe body is fully coated with black paint, clear varnish, or anti-rust oil.
Note: The welding end areas (usually within 50mm from both ends) must remain uncoated to ensure proper on-site welding quality.

Woven Bag / Plastic Wrapping

Method: Wrap the pipe body spirally with waterproof woven fabric, or apply partial wrapping within 1 meter of both ends.
Function: Improves abrasion resistance during lifting and prevents coating damage caused by pipe-to-pipe friction.

III. Bundling and Fixation (Transport Safety Assurance)

Depending on pipe diameter, export bundling methods are generally divided into two categories:

1. Small Diameter Pipes (≤ 8 inch / 219mm): Bundled Packaging

Hexagonal Bundling: Multiple pipes are tightly bundled into a hexagonal shape using steel straps.
Pre-embedded Lifting Slings: Each bundle is equipped with 2–4 high-strength nylon lifting slings. This allows overseas customers to directly hook and unload the pipes at the port without inserting slings underneath, improving efficiency and safety.

2. Large Diameter Pipes (≥ 10 inch / 273mm): Loose and Nested Loading

Loose Loading: Large-diameter pipes are generally transported individually due to size limitations.
Nested Loading: To reduce shipping costs (charged by volume), smaller pipes can be inserted into larger pipes (e.g., 8-inch pipes inside 16-inch pipes). Wood blocks, rubber pads, or cardboard are used as spacers to prevent abrasion.

IV. Marking and Traceability

Proper marking is essential for customs clearance and customer identification.

Pipe Body Marking

Each pipe is clearly spray-marked with white paint, including:

Standard
Steel grade
Specification (Outer Diameter × Wall Thickness × Length)
Heat Number
Lot Number
Manufacturer name

Tags / Labels

Each bundle or pipe is attached with a waterproof plastic or metal tag indicating:

Contract number
Product name
Weight (Gross / Net)