World Stainless Steel Output Surged 13%: ISSF

SEATTLE (Scrap Monster): The global stainless steel production statistics published by the International Stainless Steel Forum (ISSF) suggests 13% surge in production during the first half year of 2018. The quarterly production in Q2 this year recorded 4% jump when compared with Q1 2018.

The global stainless steel production during the opening six months of 2018 totaled 26.060 million metric tons (Mt), higher by 13.3% when compared with the output of 23 Mt during the first half-yearly period in 2017.

All regions reported increased production over the previous year. The European stainless steel output recorded marginal increase by 1.4% from 3.882 Mt in H1 2017 to 3.935 Mt in first half of 2018. The output by the U.S. too was up marginally by 1.6% to total 1.443 Mt. The Chinese production surged higher significantly by 13.2% over the previous year to total 13.640 Mt, accounting for more than half of the world production. The country had produced only 12.046 Mt in Jan-June ’17.

The Asian region excluding China and South Korea witnessed 5.8% year-on-year jump in production. Meantime, the combined output by Brazil, South Africa, Russia, South Korea and Indonesia skyrocketed by 68.3%. The production surged from 1.702 Mt to 2.865 Mt over the year, ISSF data said.

The stainless steel output during the second quarter of the year totaled 13.286 Mt, over 4% higher when matched with the output of 12.774 Mt recorded during Q1 ’18.