Melting record for Chinese stainless producers

Asia – Last year, China melted more than 20 million tonnes of stainless steel, with its crude production accounting for 50.5% of the global output of 40.6 million tonnes, concludes Austria-based Steel Market Intelligence (SMI)

Over the last three months, SMI has conducted an in-depth analysis of the Chinese stainless steel industry in which it looked at the production volumes of more than 100 plants. This reveals that Chinese producers have reshaped the stainless steel landscape to an even larger extent than previously anticipated.

Its total crude stainless production climbed to 20.5 million tonnes in 2013 – up 17% from the 17.5 million tonnes recorded in 2012 – while finished product output reached 18 million tonnes for an increase of 16% over the 15.5 million tonnes of 2012.

According to SMI, the biggest increase came from the Tsingshan Group, the second-largest producer of stainless steel in China behind state-owned TISCO; overall, eight producers melted more than 1 million tonnes in 2013. Private producers contributed most of the growth: their combined crude production jumped 24% last year, SMI concludes.

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