Posted on 24/02/2014 in category Stainless
BIR World Mirror on Stainless Steel & Special Alloys - January 2014
Dear colleagues,
2013 is behind us and many of us will be glad that is the case. It was a very challenging year for the stainless steel industry, with some significant casualties along the way. The global economy in general gave us little in the way of good news as most countries struggled to post significant growth figures. Across the world, there was little talk of expansion in industry but more discussion about contraction and cost-cutting. Scrap content discounts tumbled and demand was flat.
China exceeded 50% of global stainless steel production and yet imported little scrap, preferring to find nickel units through nickel pig iron. Will the Indonesian ore ban hold long enough to see an impact on the Chinese stock held?
At the time of writing, LME nickel cancelled warrants had risen to 41% of all LME nickel stocks, with most analysts expecting that metal to end up in China. Perhaps by the time we meet in Miami the outlook will be brighter.
We are all looking forward to seeing you there.
Mark Sellier
OneSteel Recycling Asia
Interim Chairman of the BIR Stainless Steel & Special Alloys Committee