European And Russian Stainless Steel
According to the Stainless Steel Sheet Briefing February 2012 report issued by Germany based service center Damstahl, the European stainless steel market has so far not been affected by the negative impact of the weakening economy and euro zone crisis. Demand from end users remained stable in January 2012.
In particular, demand from the process industry, which is the biggest stainless consumer in Europe, remained robust. Demand from stockists has improved since the beginning of the year in order to refill the empty flat product supply chain.
Damstahl also noted that European stainless steel bar producers aim to create a strong counterpart to the Chinese dominance in the global stainless markets. China exported almost 2 million tonnes in 2011, hitting a new record level, of which around 200,000 tonnes were delivered to Europe. Supply from China was particularly strong in the first half of 2011, but declined in the second half. The currently widening price gap between Europe and China, which is around EUR 200 per tonne, leads European steelmakers to turn towards Chinese material again.
According to an expert estimate made by SpetsStal Association, imports of all main kinds of stainless steel products to Russia rose by 52.3% MoM in February 2012 on January 2012 to 19476 tonnes, including a growth of stainless steel flats by 61.6%, seamless tubes 149.9% and welded tubes 85.5%.
Imports of stainless steel long products, wire and ingots slabs, on the contrary, fell 12.3%, 9.9% and 27.9% respectively.
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