China stainless steel output grows 19.49% in Mar

SHANGHAI, Apr 10 (SMM) – China produced some 2.34 million mt of stainless steel in March, up 19.49% on the month and up 11.39% on the year, as a greater number of working days bolstered output, an SMM survey found on Wednesday April 10. 

In March, output of #300 series stainless steel grew 28.65% from February, to stand at 1.23 million mt, showed SMM data. Higher profits prompted producers to raise the output of #300 products, at the expense of #400 series.

Output of the #400 series decreased 9.98% month on month and came in at 363,500 mt in March. Production of #200 series climbed 24.7%, to 750,300 mt during the same period. 

For April, output of stainless steel is likely to slip to 2.33 million mt as annual maintenance at a producer in the east may affect steel output by 30,000-35,000 mt. 

SMM expects output of #300 series products to grow 0.45% on the month, to nearly 1.24 million mt in April. 

Production of #200 series may lose 2% from March, to 735,300 mt, as 45-day maintenance at a steelmaker in central China is expected to lower #200 output by some 35,000 mt. 

Production of #400 stainless steel is likely to dip 1.79% to 357,000 mt in April.