Home / Metal News / NPI supply gap, environmental suspension lower stainless steel output by 8.91% in Jan

NPI supply gap, environmental suspension lower stainless steel output by 8.91% in Jan

iconFeb 15, 2019 11:34
Source:SMM
China produced some 1.99 million mt of stainless steel in Jan, down 8.91% on the month and down 8.88% on the year

SHANGHAI, Feb 15 (SMM) – China produced some 1.99 million mt of stainless steel in January, down 8.91% on the month and down 8.88% on the year, weighed by shortages of nickel pig iron (NPI) as raw materials and environmental suspensions, an SMM survey found. 

In January, output of #300 series stainless steel shrank 14.26% from December to 968,000 mt. Expansion of hot-rolled coil production lines across southern mills affected operation of transformers. This, coupled with a short supply of NPI, lowered overall stainless steel output. 

Output of the #400 series decreased 2.07% from a month ago and came in at 425,500 mt for the same month. Operation across producers of the #400 series mostly remained stable. 

A plant producing the #200 series in south China suspended for environmental rectification last month, which lowered overall January output by 4% to 600,000 mt.

For February, output of stainless steel is likely to climb. While CNY maintenance will cut output of the #300 series by 1.42% on the month to 954,300 mt, production of the #200 series is likely to increase by 5.28%, to stand at 631,700 mt. 

Output of #400 stainless steel is expected to dip 4.11% to 408,000 mt in February. 

Production data
Stainless steel
Data Source Statement: Except for publicly available information, all other data are processed by SMM based on publicly available information, market exchanges, and relying on SMM's internal database model, for reference only and do not constitute decision-making recommendations.

For queries, please contact Lemon Zhao at lemonzhao@smm.cn

For more information on how to access our research reports, please email service.en@smm.cn

Related news