Stainless steel continues strong growth

Archiv – According to the International Stainless Steel Forum (ISSF), growing demand from China will push stainless steel growth to an estimated 5.8% for 2003 as a whole – 1.8% higher than previously forecast. Earlier figures had revealed that production rose 8.2% in the first half of 2003 compared to the same period of 2002.According to the International Stainless Steel Forum (ISSF), growing demand from China will push stainless steel growth to an estimated 5.8% for 2003 as a whole – 1.8% higher than previously forecast. Earlier figures had revealed that production rose 8.2% in the first half of 2003 compared to the same period of 2002.
ISSF is currently seeing a pick-up in demand due partially to speculation that the price of nickel will continue to increase. This rise in demand is also attributed to an expectation that the long-awaited recovery in the global economy will occur early in 2004. A sharp recovery is expected in demand for stainless steel, especially in the capital goods sector. Demand will also increase as stockholders and fabricators re-stock at the beginning of the new year.
Demand in Western Europe and the U.S. was weak during the second and third quarters of 2003 and ISSF expects this to lead to a slowdown in melting activities at several mills during the second half of 2003. The lack of demand has been driven in part by the generally disappointing recovery of the European economies.
Production of stainless and heat-resisting steels grew significantly in all regions of the world in the first half of 2003 to almost 11 million tonnes, with much of the additional production having been absorbed by China. Preliminary customs figures indicate that hot coil imports increased by more than 50% in the first half of 2003. For the full year, ISSF expects melting of stainless and heat-resisting steels to grow by approximately 6% to reach an all-time high of 21.5 million tonnes.