World Stainless Production Logs One Last Hurrah for 2008
12/19/2008 - Worldwide production of crude stainless steel reached 6.3 million tonnes in the third quarter of 2008, an increase of 6.8% as compared to the same quarter in 2007, according to the International Stainless Steel Forum.
Worldwide production of crude stainless steel reached 6.3 million tonnes in the third quarter of 2008, an increase of 6.8% as compared to the same quarter in 2007, according to preliminary figures released by the International Stainless Steel Forum (ISSF). The trend is likely to reverse in the fourth quarter, however, in the face of the current economic climate.
According to ISSF, that growth originated primarily in Europe and the Americas. Asian production remained flat, with China showing a decline in stainless steel production compared to both the previous quarter and, for the first time, when compared to the same quarter in the previous year.
The Western Europe/Africa region shows the most significant increase in production during 2008. Production in the region has reached 6.8 million tonnes for the year to date, a 4.9% increase on the same period of 2007.
Production in The Americas region decreased in the same period by 2.1% to 1.9 million tonnes. The Central & Eastern Europe region increased production slightly on low volume.
Production in the Asia region has reached 12.1 million tonnes for the year to date, a drop of 1% compared to the first nine months of 2007. With the exception of China, all Asian countries have reduced their stainless production significantly. Even China, which produced 5.5 million tonnes of stainless in the first three quarters of 2008, could not compensate for the losses of the other countries in the region. Japanese production is down by 3% to 2.9 million tonnes.
For the year-to-date, the quarter-by-quarter figures have shown a clear upward movement for stainless steel production. After Quarter 1, global output was 2.8% lower than in the same period of 2007. By the end of Quarter 2 production was just 0.4% below the previous year. Production increased by 6.8% in Quarter 3. The trend is unlikely to be sustained in the final quarter of 2008 given the current global economic climate.
The International Stainless Steel Forum (ISSF) is a non-profit research organization, which serves as the world forum on various aspects of the international stainless steel industry. ISSF is based in Brussels, Belgium.
