According to Meps, Korea-based Posco has inaugurated its new stainless steel melting shop in China last month – an addition which consolidates China’s recently-won position as the world’s largest stainless steel producing country. The Korean company believes Chinese demand for stainless hot band is growing by more than 10% per year, and its new facility is not the only additional capacity being installed. According to one industry estimate, as much as 10 million tonnes of stainless crude steel potential is currently being constructed in China. With output of 2.3 million tonnes, the country became the global leader in production of crude stainless steel in the first half of this year. Its output for the whole of 2006 could be as much as 5.6 million tonnes. Domestic consumption is rising fast – growth is estimated at 15% per year. Trade trends so far this year show the way things are going. In January-August, flat rolled stainless exports were 252,000tns – up 60% and imports fell 30% to 1.4 million tonnes. Foreign receipts, although still large look set to shrink rapidly. Increasing Chinese exports are already affecting markets around the world. Stainless flat products from China – as well as from Taiwan, Japan and Korea – have become a noteworthy feature of the West European market. In the USA, China has become the largest foreign supplier of stainless steel this year. It is no surprise that trade tension is mounting.
