Stainless Steel Production Registers CAGR growth of 5.8%

The largest traded stainless steel product in 2016 was cold rolled flats, which accounted for 47.2% of total foreign trade.

SEATTLE (Scrap Monster):  The ‘Stainless Steel in Figures 2017’ Report released by the International Stainless Steel Federation (ISSF) states that stainless steel production registered compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of 5.8% over the period from 1950 to 2015, which is significantly higher than other metals. The stainless melt shop production has surged higher significantly from around 1Mt in 1950’s to as high as 45.8 Mt in 2015.

According to the report, there has been a considerable jump in regional share of stainless steel production by China. The Chinese production, which had accounted for 13% in 2005, jumped higher to 54% in 2016. On the other hand, share of EU-27 countries and other Asian countries excluding China declined sharply during this period. The share of stainless steel production by Asia region excluding China dropped from 39% in 2005 to 22% in 2016. Also, the share of EU-27 countries plunged by more than half to 16% in 2016 from 34% in 2005. The share of Americas too dropped heavily from 11% to 6% during this period.

The world stainless steel melt shop production remained almost stable in 2014 and 2015, at 41.686 million metric tons and 41.548 million metric tons respectively. The production increased considerably during the whole year 2016, in comparison with the previous year. The total stainless steel output during the entire year 2016 amounted to 45.778 million metric tons, higher by 10.2% when compared with the previous year.

When compared with the production during the quarter before, the stainless steel output during Q4 2016 has surged higher by 6.18%. The global stainless steel output during Q4 2016 totaled 12.193 million mt as compared with 11.483 million mt during Q3 last year.

The production in the Western Europe/African region was up slightly by 2.40% to total 7.705 million mt during the whole of 2016. The Central/ Eastern European region’s production has dropped by 4.6% to 247,000 mt when matched with the previous year. The stainless steel output by the Americas has increased modestly by 6.7% during 2016 to 2.931 million mt. The Chinese output increased significantly by 15.7% year-on-year during 2016 to 24.938 million mt. The output by the Asian region excluding China too reported growth of 5.2% over the year.

The largest traded stainless steel product in 2016 was cold rolled flats, which accounted for 47.2% of total foreign trade. In second place was Hot Coils with 28.7% share, followed by Hot bars/ Wire rods (7.9%), Cold bars/ wire (6.8%) and Hot plate and sheet (6.6%).

The total trade exports of stainless steel increased from 17.304 million metric tons in 2015 to 18.511 million metric tons in 2016. Western Europe was the major importer of stainless steel during the year. The imports by the region totaled 9.358 million metric tons, accounting for almost 50% share of the export trade. The Asian imports totaled 6.299 million metric tons, followed by NAFTA (1.580 million metric tons), Middle East (349,900 mt), Eastern Europe (344,100 mt), Latin America (284,700 mt), Africa (202,600 mt) and Australia/Oceania (92,800 mt). Also, Western Europe accounted for bulk of the exports. The stainless steel products exports from the Western Europe region totaled 8.387 million mt, followed by Asia (8.387 million mt) and NAFTA (917,800 mt).

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