UNITED KINGDOM April 30 2015 5:37 PM
NEW YORK (Scrap Register): MEPS International predicts that global crude stainless steel production will grow by a further 3.4 percent, this year, to reach a new record of 43.1 million tonnes.
According to MEPS, global crude stainless steel output in 2014 reached an all-time high figure of nearly 41.7 million tons. This exceeds the last peak, achieved in the previous year, by 8.3 percent.
EU production totalled over 7.2 million tonnes, last year. This represents a 1.4 percent increase on the 2013 figure but remains 23 percent below the output recorded in 2006. It is unlikely that such a figure will be reached again, given the expansion of stainless steelmaking capacity throughout the world.
Although local consumption is disappointing, at present, European producers will be boosted in the short-to-medium term by the effects of EU antidumping duties levied on cold rolled coil from China and Taiwan.
Production in the United States climbed by more than 16 percent, year-on-year, in 2014, to in excess of 2.3 million tonnes. Output will grow more moderately, this year, to reach a predicted level of 2.4 million tonnes.
Japanese stainless steelmaking also grew strongly, last year, to turn out at more than 3.3 million tonnes – an annual increase of nearly 5 percent. More moderate expansion is anticipated in 2015, to achieve a total of 3.35 million tonnes.
In the face of fierce competition in the region, output in South Korea fell to just over 2 million tonnes, in 2014, a decrease of 4.3 percent, compared with the previous year’s outturn. A modest recovery is forecast for 2015, with production increasing by around 1.5 percent.
Annual production in Taiwan rose by 2.6 percent, last year, to exceed 1.1 million tonnes. Output in 2015 is predicted to record only minimal growth, compared with the year earlier figure.
![Les prix du cuivre montent en flèche, accentuant le ralentissement saisonnier, tandis que les taux d’exploitation et les prises de commandes continuent de se replier [SMM Marché hebdomadaire du fil émaillé]](https://imgqn.smm.cn/usercenter/CaDcj20251217171711.jpg)
![L'écart de prix important entre Shanghai et le Guangdong a entraîné des transferts de cargaisons interrégionaux, poussant la prime au comptant dans le sud de la Chine à la hausse de manière passive. [Revue hebdomadaire SMM du spot de cathodes de cuivre en Chine du Sud]](https://imgqn.smm.cn/usercenter/EOMNB20251217171709.jpg)
![Les contrats à terme ont fortement augmenté, la demande finale était atone et les achats étaient insuffisants, entraînant un repli de la prime en Chine du Nord après une hausse rapide [Analyse hebdomadaire du cuivre cathodique au comptant en Chine du Nord par SMM]](https://imgqn.smm.cn/usercenter/SiNDH20251217171711.jpg)
