PIERCING MACHINE, AND METHOD FOR PRODUCING SEAMLESS METAL PIPE USING THE SAME

A piercing machine includes a plurality of skewed rolls, a plug, a mandrel bar and an outer surface cooling mechanism. The outer surface cooling mechanism is disposed around the mandrel bar at a position that is rearward of the plug, and with respect to an outer surface of a hollow shell advancing through a cooling zone which has a specific length in an axial direction of the mandrel bar and which is located rearward of the plug, as seen from an advancing direction of the hollow shell, the outer surface cooling mechanism ejects a cooling fluid toward an upper part of the outer surface, a lower part of the outer surface, a left part of the outer surface and a right part of the outer surface of the hollow shell to cool the hollow shell inside the cooling zone.