In the third quarter of 2013, world stainless crude steel output stood at 9.32 million mt, up 8.6 percent year on year and up one percent quarter on quarter, according to the preliminary report released by the International Stainless Steel Forum (ISSF).
According to the ISSF data, in the third quarter of 2013 stainless crude steel production decreased by 9.6 percent in the Western Europe/Africa region and by one percent in Eastern Europe, while stainless crude steel production increased by 20.7 percent in China, by 4.4 percent in the Americas region and by 2.4 percent in the Asia region excluding China, all compared with the third quarter of 2012.
On the other hand, in the first nine months of 2013 world stainless crude steel production increased by 5.5 percent year on year to 27.97 million mt. In the given period, China accounted for almost half of global production, while the production of the Western Europe/Africa region decreased by 5.6 percent on year-on-year basis due to double-digit decreases in Italy, Germany and with the UK seeing a year-on-year decline of 15 percent. In the same period, stainless crude steel production in the Asia region excluding China decreased by 1.6 percent, with a five percent increase in output in India and a six percent decrease in Taiwan, all year on year.
Stainless crude steel production (x 1,000 metric tons):
| Region | Change q-o-q | Q3 | Change y-o-y | |||
| Q2 2013 | Q3 2013 | (%) | 2012 | 2013 | (%) | |
| Western Europe/Africa | 1,951 | 1,587 | -18.7 | 1,756 | 1,587 | -9.6 |
| Central and Eastern Europe | 114 | 89 | -21.9 | 90 | 89 | -1 |
| The Americas | 567 | 630 | +11.1 | 603 | 630 | +4.4 |
| Asia (excluding China) | 2,149 | 2,168 | +0.9 | 2,118 | 2,168 | +2.4 |
| China | 4,414 | 4,845 | +9.8 | 4,015 | 4,845 | +20.7 |
| World total | 9,224 | 9,320 | +1.0 | 8,582 | +8.6 | 8,6 |