According to the Stainless Steel Report September 2012 issued by Germany-based service center Damstahl, as expected the European stainless steel market was very soft in the second quarter of the current year and will remain without stimulus in most of the third quarter due to end-users' uncertainties regarding the future market situation. Besides reduced demand from end-users, falling nickel prices had also a negative impact on stockholder activity in recent months in Europe. The report forecasts that stainless steel buyers might return to the market in the end of the third quarter of the year and the stainless steel market will rebound in the fourth quarter.
According to the report, European stainless steel crude steel production dropped to 2 million mt in the second quarter of this year, from the 2.1 million mt recorded in the first quarter. However, the figure is still on a higher level compared to the fourth quarter of 2011 with its extremely weak December production. European mills are reported to be satisfied with the production volumes in the second quarter, while actually European production was six percent below the volume recorded in the same quarter of the previous year.