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) shows.
Data from the ISSF, released this month, shows 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 and Africa decreased 0.7% to 7.51-million tons, from the 7.57-million tons achieved in 2014.
Central and 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 2.7million tons in 2015, from 2.8-million tons the year before.