Photo by: Duane Daws
Global stainless steel and heat-resisting melt shop production for 2015 edged down some 0.3% year-on-year to 41.5-million tons, with declines across the board - barring Asia with the exception of China - the latest figures from the International Stainless Steel Forum (ISSF) showed.
Data from ISSF, released this week, showed that output of stainless steel in Asia, excluding China, ticked up 1.4% from 9.3-million tons in 2014 to nearly 9.5-million tons in 2015.
China, however, recorded a 0.6% decrease in production, from 21.69-million tons in 2014, to 21.56-million tons in the year under review.
During 2015, stainless and melt shop steel output from Western Europe/Africa decreased 0.7% to 7.51-million tons, from the 7.57-million tons achieved in 2014.
Central/Eastern Europe’s output contracted 6.3% from 277 000 t to 259 000 t, while production from the Americas was down 2.3% to 2.7-million tons in 2015, from 2.8-million tons the year before.