Stainless steel production high
Brussels— The International Stainless Steel
Forum (ISSF) has announced that world stainless crude steel production
in the first quarter of 2006 stood at 6.6 million metric tons (mmt).
The total is the highest amount of stainless steel
that has been produced in a single quarter.
Compared to the first quarter of 2005, production
only rose by 0.3%. However, compared to the fourth quarter of 2005,
production has risen by 12.2%. This indicates that demand is recovering
from the poor results in the second half of 2005.
When compared to the fourth quarter of 2005, the
strongest growth rate in the first quarter of 2006 (17.7% to 0.8
mmt) was achieved in The Americas. The Western Europe/Africa region
increased stainless steel production by 12.6% to 2.4 mmt. Asia saw
an increase of 11.1% to 3.3 mmt. Production in the Central and Eastern
Europe region was relatively flat in this comparison.
When compared to the strong first quarter of 2005,
the total world production increase in the first quarter of 2006
was just 0.3%. In this comparison the Western Europe/Africa region
is still 1.4% behind last year’s production level. However,
all other regions have increased their production.
The strongest growth year-on-year was achieved
in Central and Eastern Europe, mainly due to the strong recovery
of stainless steel production in Russia. The Americas increased
their stainless steel output by 4.1%. Asia, with an increase of
just 0.4%, shows flat development when compared to the first quarter
of 2005. |
