Some tarnish on stainless market

FACT ‘N’ FIGURES

The International Stainless Steel Forum (ISSF) says that stainless crude steel production for the first nine months of 2005 was 18.4 million tonnes, a nominal rise of 1.1% compared with the same period in 2004.

Asia was the only region to show growth during those first nine months. Asia produced 9.4 million tonnes of crude stainless steel, an increase of 7.8% over the first nine months of 2004. Driving the demand were the booming economies of China and India. Most other Asian producers showed little or no gains.

Meanwhile, in Western Europe and Africa, steel production tallied to 6.7 million tonnes for the first three quarters of 2005 — a 4.8% drop from the same period of 2004.

Further down the ladder, the Americas produced a mere 2.1 million tonnes of crude stainless steel for the first three quarters of 2005, a decline of 5.4% compared with the same period in 2004.

Production also fell in Central and Eastern Europe where 191,000 tonnes of crude stainless were produced in the first three quarters, a drop of 16.3% compared with the year-earlier period.

Analysis of the 2005 figures quarter by quarter shows a clear downward direction in crude stainless steel production. At the end of the first quarter of 2005, global output was 7.5% higher than for the same period of 2004. The second quarter also showed an increase of 3.6% over the previous year. However, the third quarter of 2005 shows a significant decline in crude stainless steel production. Production in the third quarter of 2005 was 5,413 million tonnes, a decline of 8.2% compared with the third quarter of 2004.