The International Stainless Steel Forum (ISSF) has released figures for Q1 2014 showing that stainless steel melt shop production increased by 6.8% year–on–year to 10.2Mmt (million metric tons) Production increased in all regions.
With year-on-year growth of 3% Asia (without China) produced 2.2Mmt. Japan and South Korea recorded increases of 9.5% and 3.5% respectively. India and Taiwan were negative with –2.6% and China was also negative with –3.6%. Stainless steel production in China increased by 11.1% to 5.1Mmt year-on-year.. China produces about half of the world’s stainless steel.
Production in Western Europe and Africa increased by 0.2% to 2.2Mmt. France increased by 10.1%, but Germany declined by 18.9%, Italy by 2.4% and Austria by 2.0%.
Production increased by 11.9% to 0.7Mmt in the Americas and by 5.5% to 0.1Mmt in Central and Eastern Europe.