BRUSSELS (Scrap Monster): According to recent statistics published by the International Stainless Steel Forum (ISSF), the global stainless steel production rose 8.3% during the entire year 2014, in comparison with 2013.

 

The total output amounted to 41.70 million mt during the period, going higher by 3.180 million mt when compared with the output of 38.506 million mt in 2013. The lowest production of 10.173 million mt was recorded during the third quarter. The total production during Q1 and Q2 amounted to 10.359 million mt and 10.173 million mt respectively. The Q4 stainless steel output totaled 10.259 million mt.

 

The production in the Western Europe/African region increased marginally by 1% to total 7.570 million mt during 2014, in comparison with the production of 7.496 million mt during 2013. The Central/ Eastern European region’s production continued to drop during 2014 also. The output declined 6.3% in 2014, after posting year-on-year decline of 17.7% in 2013. The region produced 277,000 metric tons of stainless steel during entire year 2014.

 

The stainless steel output by the Americas surged higher by 14.6% during 2014 to 2.813 million mt. This is when matched with the production of 2.454 million mt during the previous year. The Chinese output increased by 14.3 during the year 2014 to 21.692 million mt. The output by the Asian region excluding China grew marginally by 0.6%.

 

Production dropped in the Western Europe/African region and the Central/Eastern Europe region during the fourth quarter of the year, when matched with the previous quarter. The output by Asian region excluding China too reported marginal decline in Q4. However, the Americas and China increased their stainless steel output during Q4 2014, when compared with Q3 the same year.