In the fourth quarter of last year, world stainless crude steel output decreased by 1.5 percent quarter on quarter to 11.31 million mt, increasing by 11.4 percent compared to the same quarter of the previous year, according to the preliminary report released by the International Stainless Steel Forum (ISSF).
In 2016, global stainless crude steel output rose by 10.2 percent year on year to 44.9 million mt.
According to the ISSF data, in 2016 stainless crude steel production increased by 15.7 percent in China and moved down by 4.1 percent in the Asia region excluding China, while increasing by 6.7 percent in the Americas region, decreasing by 4.6 percent in the Central and Eastern Europe region and rising by 2.4 percent in the Western Europe and Africa region, all compared with 2016.
Stainless crude steel production (x 1,000 metric tons):
| Region |
| Q-o-q change |
| Y-o-y change (%) | ||
| 2016-Q4 | 2016-Q3 | (%) | 2016 | 2015 | ||
| Western Europe/Africa | 1,936 | 1,761 | 9.9 | 7,702 | 7,518 | 2.4 |
| Central/Eastern Europe | 58 | 63 | -8.0 | 247 | 259 | -4.6 |
| The Americas | 753 | 815 | -7.7 | 2,931 | 2,747 | 6.7 |
| Asia (excluding China) | 1,716 | 2,524 | -32.1 | 9,082 | 9,461 | -4.1 |
| 6,852 | 6,321 | 8.4 | 24,938 | 21,562 | 15.7 | |