World Stainless Crude Steel Output Stood at 35.4 Million Mt

In 2012, world stainless crude steel output stood at 35.4 million mt, up 5.2 percent year on year, hitting a new record for a single year, according to the preliminary report released by the International Stainless Steel Forum (ISSF). According to the report, China accounted for the increase in production, with other regions of the world showing negative growth, mainly due to destocking.
 
Excluding China, Asian stainless production in 2012 declined by 0.6 percent to 8.7 million mt, while in Taiwan production declined by 7.8 percent, both compared to the previous year. Production in Japan in the given year declined by 2.5 percent year on year to 3.2 million mt. Meanwhile, South Korea (+0.5 percent) and India (+5.3 percent) increased their production of stainless steel during the year.
 
China has remained the driving force in stainless steel production, with growth of 14.2 percent year on year in 2012. The country produced 16.1 million mt of stainless steel during the year. The year-on-year change is based on corrected figures issued for 2011 and 2012. Including China, Asian production accounted for 70 percent of all stainless steel produced in the world.
 
Western Europe and Africa constituted the second largest stainless steel producing region despite lower production during 2012. This region's production volume for the year totaled 7.8 million mt, down 0.7 percent compared to 2011. Stainless production in the Americas was 4.7 percent lower than in 2011 with a total output of 2.4 million mt. In Central and Eastern Europe output dropped by an average 8.2 percent year on year. Total production was, however, 0.4 million mt, which is almost negligible in global terms.
 
Stainless crude steel production (x 1,000 metric tons):
 

r = revised, p = preliminary, n/a = not applicable
 
ISSF Note: China has issued corrections to its stainless steel production data for 2011 and 2012 - particularly for chromium-manganese (CrMn) stainless steels. Due to these changes, data for 2011 are not comparable with information from previous years.