BIR World Mirror Stainless Steel & Special Alloys 2010 / 10

Chairmans report

On behalf of the Stainless Steel & Special Alloys board, I am delighted to present you with this October 2010 edition of the Stainless Steel & Special Alloys Mirror.

In our previous edition published back in April, we were optimistic that, following the huge drop in stainless steel production and scrap availability in 2009, we would see an improvement in 2010.  It now appears this optimism was well-founded to the extent that we even underestimated the growth in global stainless steel pro- duction: we had hoped for an increase to over 27 million tonnes for 2010 but we are now forecasting levels of around 30 million tonnes, or an expansion of about 20%.

We saw a huge production increase in the first two quarters of 2010 due to restocking, with a slow-down in the third quarter resulting from the seasonal vacation period. An increase is expected for the fourth quarter but this will depend on the con- tinuation of short-term orders by consumers and also the effect of the Christmas holiday period.

...

Michael G. Wright
Chief Operating Officer
ELG Haniel GmbH
Chairman of the BIR Stainless Steel & Special Alloys Committee

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