According to Meps remarkable growth forecasts for China’s stainless steel sector were made at a recent industry meeting in Shanghai. Chinese production capacity in 2006 will be double the figure in 2004. Moreover, if current expansion plans are fully realised, China could be melting more than 16 million tonnes per year in 2010 – equivalent to more than 60% of current world output. China is already having a determining influence on global stainless markets. In the first half of this year, its stainless crude steel production jumped by 54% year-on-year, while output in almost every other country was falling, according to figures from International Stainless Steel Forum. The surging expansion of domestic production is making China less of an import market, and more of an exporter in its own right.
