Stainless Steel Growth Slows First Half Of Year

According to the International Stainless Steel Forum, world stainless steel production reached 12.9 million metric tons over the first half of the year, an increase of 5.5 percent compared to the first half of last year.

Asia was the only region where stainless steel production grew in the first half of 2005. Stainless steel production in Asia grew by 13.4 percent to 6.5 million metric tons. Driving forces were China, increasing its production by 54 percent, and India, growing by 10 percent.

The second biggest producing region is Western Europe/ Africa. The region produced 4.9 million metric tons of crude stainless steel in the first half of 2005, a decrease of 0.4 percent on the same period of 2004. Production in the first half of 2004 production was affected by strikes at two major stainless steel mills.

The Americas region also saw stainless steel production drop by 2.2 percent to 1.5 million metric tons. Production in the Central and Eastern Europe region declined by 24.7 percent to 118,000 metric tons. This was mainly due to a sharp decline in production in Russia.

A clear decline in growth rates is apparent when each quarter of 2005 is compared to the same period last year. This is based on weaker than expected general economic development. Demand may also be affected by higher stainless steel prices which have been driven by increases in prices for raw materials.

The global stainless steel growth rate stood at 7.5 percent at the end of the first quarter of 2005 when compared to the same quarter of 2004. Total stainless crude steel production was 6.5 million metric tons over the first quarter of the year.

Analyzing the second quarter alone, growth has more than halved to 3.6 percent. Total production in the second quarter was 6.4 million metric tons. All regions show a drop in production compared to the first quarter of 2005.

In the Asia region, second quarter growth was 12.9 percent.