Stainless Steel Output Surged 10% in Jan-Sep '18

SEATTLE (Scrap Monster): The global stainless steel production reported notable increase during the first nine months of the current year. The recent data published by the International Stainless Steel Forum (ISSF) suggests 10% year-on-year jump in stainless steel melt shop production.

The output during the initial nine-month period of 2018 totaled 39.1 million metric tons, higher by 10% when matched with the previous year. The production had totaled only 35.535 million metric tons in Jan-Sep ’17.

According to ISSF, the Chinese production totaled 20.747 million tons, which accounted for more than 53% of the global production. Over the previous year, the Chinese production surged higher by 8.5% from 19.122 million metric tons. The Asian region excluding China reported production rise by 4.9% to total 6.212 million metric tons. The European stainless steel production too reported marginal increase by 1.6%. The combined production by Brazil, Russia, South Africa, South Korea and Indonesia skyrocketed by more than 52%. Meantime, U.S. production climbed higher by 4%.

The quarterly output totaled 13.184 million metric tons, flat when compared with the prior quarter. The Chinese production recorded steady increase over the prior quarter totaling 7.241million metric tons in Q3 this year. The production by the Asian region excluding China and South Korea totaled 2.043 million metric tons, whereas the European production totaled 1.703 million metric tons.