China’s stainless crude steel output totals 7.082 million mt in H1

According to the Stainless Steel Council of the China Special Steel Enterprises Association, in the January-June period of the current year the total stainless crude steel output of China reached 7.082 million mt, up 5.25 percent year on year, including respective increases of 3.12 percent and 8.36 percent seen in outputs of Cr-Ni and Cr-Mn stainless steels.  
 
Compared with the second half of 2011, China's stainless crude steel output in the first half of 2012 increased by 2.3 percent, including a 5.39 percent increase in output of Cr-Ni stainless steel and a decrease of 1.67 percent in output of Cr-Mn stainless steel.
 
In the first half of the current year, China's stainless crude steel import volume amounted to 387,900 mt, down 70,600 mt or 15.40 percent year on year, while China exported 1,006,000 mt of stainless crude steel in the given period, down 101,800 mt or 9.19 percent year on year.
 
In the January-June period this year, apparent consumption of stainless crude steel in China totaled 5,614,000 mt, up 330,000 mt or 6.88 percent as compared with the same period of 2011.