Global stainless steel output totaled 10.37 mmt in Q1 2015: ISSF

By Paul Ploumis 19 Aug 2015 Last updated at 03:10:42 GMT

The global stainless steel output increased marginally by 0.10% over the previous year to total 10.366 million mt during Q1 2015, according to latest statistics published by the International Stainless Steel Forum (ISSF).

BRUSSELS (Scrap Monster): According to recent statistics published by the International Stainless Steel Forum (ISSF), the global stainless steel production increased marginally by 0.1% during the first quarter of the current year, in comparison with the corresponding quarter last year.

The total output amounted to 10.366 million mt during the period, going higher by 0.007 million mt when compared with the output of 10.359 million mt in 2013. When compared with the production during the previous quarter, the stainless steel output during Q1 2015 has grown by almost 1%. The production during Q4 2014 had totaled 10.259 million mt.

The production in the Western Europe/African region dropped significantly by 7.3% to total 2.007 million mt during Q1 2015, in comparison with the production of 2.164 million mt during Q1 2014. The Central/ Eastern European region’s production continued to drop during the first quarter of the current year. The output declined 9.6% over the previous year. The region produced 64,000 metric tons of stainless steel during Jan-Mar ‘15.

The stainless steel output by the Americas surged higher by 14.7% during the first quarter of the year to 768,000 mt. This is when matched with the production of 670,000 mt during same quarter during the previous year. The Chinese output dropped marginally 1.4% year-on-year during the quarter to 5.014 million mt. The output by the Asian region excluding China grew substantially by 6.0%.

Production surged higher by almost 25% in the Western Europe/African region during Q1 2015, when matched with the previous quarter. Central/Eastern Europe region too reported marginal rise of 0.8% quarter-on-quarter. The output by Asian region excluding China and the Americas reported significant jump in Q1 this year. On the other hand, Chinese stainless steel production recorded 11.6% quarterly drop during the first quarter of 2015.