Abstract. The paper reports results of magnetic measurements made on samples of the 12GB pipe steel (strength group X42SS) designed for producing pipes to be used in media with high hydrogen sulphide content, both in the initial state and after exposure to hydrogen sulphide, for 96, 192 and 384 hours under uniaxial elastic-plastic tension. At the stage of elastic deformation there is a unique correlation between the coercive force measured on a minor hysteresis loop in weak fields and tensile stress, which enables this parameter to be used for the evaluation of elastic stresses in pipes made of the 12 GB pipe steel under different conditions, including a hydrogen sulphide containing medium. The effect of the value of preliminary plastic strain, viewed as the initial stress-strain state, on the magnetic behaviour of X70 pipe steels under elastic tension and compression is studied. Plastic strain history affects the magnetic behaviour of the material during subsequent elastic deformation since plastic strain induces various residual stresses, and this necessitates taking into account the initial stress-strain state of products when developing magnetic techniques for the determination of their stress-strain parameters during operation.