SMI GmbH has conducted an in-depth analysis of the Chinese stainless steel industry during the past three months – Chinese producers has melted more than 20 million tonnes (MT) of stainless steel which also catapulted the global melt production to over 40MT. Chinese production has been accounted for 50.5 % of the global output in 2013.
The total stainless crude production climbed to 20.5MT in 2013 (up 17 % from 17.5MT in 2012) and finished product output reached 18MT(up 16 % from 15.5MT in 2012). Production volumes of more than 100 Chinese plants (including around 60 with own melting) were aggregated and all double-counting was eliminated.
The crude output of the major state owned and foreign invested producers (TISCO, Baosteel, LISCO, ZPSS, JISCO, Dongbei) increased by 11 % in 2013. Private producers contributed to most of the growth: their combined crude production rose by 24 % in 2013.
The biggest increase came from Tsingshan Group which already is the second largest producer of stainless steel in China behind the state owned giant TISCO. Eight producers were melting more than 1MT in 2013, including newcomer Beihai Chengde which started production in 2012 in southern Guangxi Province.
The 2013 melt production of 20.5MT was split into the following grades:
- 200 series incl. CrMn steels 31 %
- 300 series 50 %
- 400 series 19 %
Read Wolfgang Lipp’s full report on the Chinese stainless steel market in the upcoming May edition of Stainless Steel World magazine!
