In Asia, stainless steel production increased by 20.2 percent year on year to 8.5 million mt in the first half of 2007. The driving forces were again China and India, which indicated rises of 54 percent and seven percent year on year respectively compared to the same period of 2006.
According to the preliminary figures, Western Europe/Africa is the second biggest stainless steel producing area, marking a decrease of 3.1 percent year on year in the first half of 2007. The region's total production amounted to 4.9 million mt for the period in question.
Region |
H1 |
+/-% |
|
2006 |
2007 |
||
5,056 |
4,898 |
-3.1 |
|
Central/Eastern Europe |
177 |
201 |
13.2 |
The Americas |
1.504 |
1,472 |
-2.1 |
Asia |
7,053 |
8,477 |
20.2 |
World Total |
13,790 |
15,047 |
9.1 |
The production figures in the above table are given for thousands of metric tons.