STAINLESS STEEL PRODUCTION

Global stainless steel production is expected to show year-on-year growth in the third and fourth quarters of 2008. This growth will be mainly a result of extremely low output in the second half of 2007. In reality, we are anticipating global production to be just below 30 million tonnes for 2008 as a whole. 

At present, weak economic figures and low end-user demand are dominating the market in all regions. Throughout the third quarter, we have seen a seasonal slow-down whereby end users bought only material that was needed for immediate use, with the main consumers adopting a “wait-and-see” attitude and not being prepared to increase inventories due to the erratic nickel, chrome and iron price movements.

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