Worldwide Stainless Steel Crude Steel Production Has Increased

Preliminary figures released by the International Stainless Steel Forum show that worldwide stainless steel crude steel production has increased after the first nine months of 2012 by 2.9%compared to the same period of 2011.

Total production for the first three quarters was 26.1 million tonnes.This is 0.7 million tonnes more than in the same period of 2011.Total production for the quarter was 8.3 million tonnes,a new all time high for a third quarter.However,there were big differences in the performance of the individual regions.

In Asia(excluding China)stainless steel production decreased slightly by 0.2%to 6.6 million tonnes.However,the growth rates of the individual stainless producing countries in Asia showed variations ranging from plus 5%(India)to minus 4%(Taiwan,China).

China increased its stainless steel production in the first nine months of 2012 by 7.9%to 11.4 million tonnes.The country now accounts for about 44%of the world's stainless steel production.At the same point in 2011,China's market share was at about 42%.After the first nine months of 2012,Asia(including China)accounts for almost 70%of the world's stainless steel production and this share is tending to increase.

Western Europe/Africa now ranks as the world's third largest stainless producing areas.After nine months of 2012 this region showed a slight increase of 0.7%in stainless steel production.Total production was 6 million tonnes for the quarter.Within Europe,big production variations have been observed ranging from minus 11%(UK,Sweden,Germany)to plus 12%(Finland).

In The Americas region,stainless crude steel production decreased by 5.5%to 1.8 million tonnes in the first three quarters of the year.Production in the Eastern Europe region showed a drop of 10.6%to 0.3 million tonnes.