ISSF: Stainless Production drops in 2009 but results better than expected
26 Apr 2010
The International Stainless Steel Forum (ISSF) has released preliminary stainless crude steel production figures which show that 24.6 million (metric) tonnes of stainless steel was produced during 2009, a decline of 5.2% compared with 2008.
However, the decrease was not evenly spread across the world with some regions reporting that production declined by up to 30% whilst in other areas it rose by 27%. This result probably reflected the uneven nature of the global economic downturn which has seen some countries and regions affected more than others; similarly, some areas of the world have recovered more quickly.
Excluding China, Asian stainless production declined by 11.6% to 7.1 million tonnes. China, which has been the driving force in the stainless industry, saw production grow by 26.8% compared to 2008 to reach 8.8 million tonnes. Including China, Asia made almost 65% of the world's stainless steel.
Production in the Western Europe/ Africa region declined by 22% in 2009 with total volume reaching just 6.5 million tonnes. Except for South Africa, all countries in the region reported significant declines in production, some as high as 50%.
| Region | Full year |
Y-o-Y +/-% |
Full year |
Y-o-Y +/-% |
||
| 2007 | 2008 | 2008 | 2009 | |||
| WesternEurope/Africa | 8,669 | 8,272 | -4.6 | 8,272 | 6,449 | -22.0 |
| Central & Eastern Europe | 364 | 333 | -8.6 | 333 | 237 | -28.9 |
| The Americas | 2,604 | 2,315 | -11.1 | 2,315 | 1,958 | -15.4 |
| Asia (excluding China) | 8,994 | 8,068 | -10.3 | 8,068 | 7,130 | -11.6 |
| China | 7,206 | 6,943 | -3.6 | 6,943 | 8,805 | +26.8 |
| World Total | 27,836 | 25,930 | -6.8 | 25,930 | 24,579 | -5.2 |
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