Global Stainless Steel Output Declined Slightly

The European stainless steel production totaled 1.899 million metric tons in Q1 2019.

SEATTLE (Scrap Monster): The International Stainless Steel Forum (ISSF) published production figures for the initial three-month period of 2019. As per data, the worldwide stainless steel melt shop steel production dropped marginally by 2.5% over the previous year in Q1 this year. The global stainless steel production totaled 12.5 million metric tons in the first three months of 2019.

According to ISSF, the Chinese production totaled 6.434 million metric tons, higher by 4.4% over the prior quarter. However, the output was down marginally by 1.5%, when matched with the same quarter a year before. Incidentally, China accounted for almost 52% of the global stainless steel output.

Asia without China and South Korea emerged as the second largest producer by region, posting an output of 1.961 million metric tons in Q1 this year. The regional output declined by 1.1% and 5.7% over the previous quarter and year respectively.

The European stainless steel production totaled 1.899 million metric tons in Q1 2019. This represents 8.7% surge over the prior quarter. Over the previous year, the output recorded a decline of 5.7%.

Meantime, the combined output by Brazil, Russia, South Africa, South Korea and Indonesia totaled 1.467 million metric tons, rising higher significantly by 11.9% quarter-on-quarter and by 2% year-on-year. The U.S. output reported a jump of 12.7% from 624,000 metric tons in Q4 ’18 to 704,000 metric tons in the first quarter of 2019.