In the first half of the current year, European stainless crude steel production decreased by five percent year on year to 3.9 million metric tons, according to the Stainless Steel Report September 2015 issued by Germany-based service center Damstahl.
Meanwhile, stock levels in the German stainless steel market were stable in August and due to good availability delivery times remain short. Both demand for stainless products and consumption remained reasonably stable throughout the summer period. In the Netherlands, with market participants returning from the summer holiday, demand for stainless steel is slowly finding its way back to regular levels. The situation in the Danish stainless steel industry is rather positive for the time being. Companies are reporting a pickup in both activity and investment willingness, which is reflected in an increase in new order intake and projects.
According to the Damstahl report, in the January-August period this year the Norwegian stainless steel market still suffered from the persisting oil price slump, which was intensified by growing global economic uncertainty, while uncertainty about future developments in the stainless steel industry dominates the Swedish market.