Both are hollow pieces of steel. Pipe is a standard product, produced to standard size ranges, dimensions and lengths. Pipe is a carrier for gases or liquids, such as oil, fuel, air, water and steam. Tubing is a specialty product, produced to actual outside or inside diameters, a variety of wall thicknesses, and close dimensional tolerances. Tubing is a construction material used in the manufacture of a wide variety of products, such as bicycles, cylinders, furniture, golf clubs, farm machinery, and auto transmission parts.
Long products are steel products such as bars, channels, tube and structural shapes.
What is a structural shape Structural shapes are rolled flanged shapes, having at least one dimension of the cross section three inches or greater. Beams, channels, angles and tees are examples of structural shapes. The number of end uses for steel bars is mind boggling. They are used in bridges, buildings, ships, agricultural machinery, road building equipment, railway equipment, general machinery, basketball hoops, signposts, bed frames and more.