World Stainless Production Rises in Q3 on Asian Performance
01/19/2012 - World crude stainless steel production increased by 3.6% in the first nine months of 2011 compared to the comparable year-ago period, according to the latest report from the International Stainless Steel Forum.
World crude stainless steel production increased by 3.6% in the first nine months of 2011 compared to the comparable year-ago period, according to the latest report from the International Stainless Steel Forum (ISSF).
Nine-Month World Stainless Production — Total production for the first three quarters of 2011 was an accumulated 24.2 million tonnes.
Excluding China, stainless steel production in Asia decreased by 1.9% to 6.6 million tonnes for the first nine months. However, the growth rates of the individual stainless-producing countries in Asia showed variations ranging from plus 10% in India, to minus 33% in Taiwan.
Mainland China reported stainless steel production of 9.4 million tonnes or the first nine months, an increase of 12.8% compared to the comparable year-ago period. China now accounts for around 39% of the world’s stainless steel production, as compared to a share of about 36% for the comparable year-ago period. At the end of the third quarter, Asia (including China) accounted for two thirds of the world’s stainless steel production, and the trend is increasing.
Western Europe/Africa, the third-largest stainless steel producing area in the world, reported the production of six million tonnes of stainless in the first nine months, representing a slight drop of 0.7% through the first three quarters.
The Americasregion reported stainless crude steel production of 1.9 million tonnes of stainless in the first three quarters of the year, representing a decrease of 5.5%. While production in the Central and Eastern Europe region showed an increase of 20.4% through the first nine months, total production for the year so far is just 0.3 million tonnes, an almost negligible volume.
Third Quarter Production — Production reached 7.7 million tonnes in the third quarter – a new all-time-high for the third quarter. However, there are wide variations in the performance of the individual regions.
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Stainless crude steel production (in ‘000 tonnes)
First three quarters 2011 vs. first three quarters of 2010 |
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Region
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First Nine Months
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Y-o- Y
+/- % |
|
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2010
|
2011
|
||
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Western Europe/Africa
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6,017
|
5,978
|
-0.7
|
|
Central and Eastern Europe
|
252
|
303
|
20.4
|
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The Americas
|
2,041
|
1,929
|
-5.5
|
|
Asia (excluding China)
|
6,718
|
6,593
|
-1.9
|
|
China
|
8,313
|
9,376
|
12.8
|
|
World total
|
23,341
|
24,179
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3.6
|
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Source: International Stainless Steel Forum
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While third-quarter production was the highest ever recorded for a third quarter, virtually all of the increase came from the Asiaregion (including China). Both Asiaand China produced more stainless in the third quarter of 2011 than in 2010.
Production in the Central/Eastern Europe region decreased compared to the second quarter of 2011, but was higher than in the third quarter of 2010. In both the Western Europe/Africa and the Americas regions, production decreased when compared to both the second quarter of 2011 and the third quarter of 2010.
