China's exports of stainless steel are soaring
A
MEPS (International) product story
Edited by the Engineeringtalk editorial team
Feb 4, 2005
China is surging ahead in stainless steel production, according to MEPS Stainless Steel Review.
It had been widely forecast that China would one day become a significant exporter of stainless steel.
The country is fulfilling these predictions more quickly than expected.
Preliminary trade figures for 2004 show that it is already a substantial force in the international market.
China's total exports of stainless steel last year soared to 387,308 tonnes - more than double the 2003 figure of 154,902 tonnes.
About half of these stainless exports were flat rolled products.
They exceeded 190,000 tonnes in 2004, a near-sevenfold jump on the previous year's figure of 27,813 tonnes.
China's stainless producers also exported about 90,000 tonnes of non-flat products and more than 100,000 tonnes of tubes and pipes.
In flat products, the biggest year-on-year increase in exports was in cold rolled strip which went up from 11,123 tonnes in 2003 to 104,463 tonnes in 2004.
This was a jump of 840% year-on-year, and further growth is expected this year.
Europe is among the markets being targeted.
Several factors lie behind the sharp increase in Chinese cold rolled exports.
First, is the over-capacity for stainless cold rolled strip that now exists in China.
In addition to the major producers Taiyuan and Baosteel and the joint ventures involving Posco and ThyssenKrupp, there are dozens of small private sector cold strip mills operating in this segment.
According to one informed estimate, national capacity for cold rolled stainless now exceeds 2 million tonnes per year and rising.
Secondly, increased exports of cold rolled strip would not be possible without an expanded supply of hot band.
While China's domestic production of this product is growing, much of the extra supply is coming from imports which rose to about 1.7 million tonnes last year.
In order for China to be a substantial exporter of cold rolled products, it must be able to obtain this hot band at competitive prices.
It is clear that there is plenty of coil available on the international market - whether from Asian, European or other mills - to meet China's needs.
Global oversupply of hot band is resulting in the surplus being offloaded in China, but at what price?.
If the Chinese re-rollers can buy hot band from Europe, convert it to cold rolled coil and sell it back to Europe and still making a margin, they must be paying a substantially discounted price for the feed material.
Not what you're looking for? Search the site.
Google Ads
Contact MEPS (International)
Related Stories
- Parker opens new store in Gillingham
- National Instruments - latest company news
- Our new lead generation service!
- Schaeffler - latest company news
- Leuze Electronic - latest company news
Articles by product category
- Consultancy and Services (903)
- Machine Building (4,517)
-
Engineering Design Software (6,179)
- Engineering Design Software (12)
- 2D CAD software (200)
- 3D CAD software (1,157)
- FEA and structural analysis software (369)
- Fluid, thermal, noise, vibration software (334)
- Simulation, modelling, validation software (914)
- Rendering, visualisation, styling software (196)
- Materials design and moulding design software (151)
- Process, instrumentation, automation software (258)
- Electrical design software (164)
- Publishing and documentation software (229)
- Maths, charting, statistics, QA software (317)
- Data, document management software (310)
- CAM, CNC, production management software (568)
- File conversion software, data capture (351)
- PLM and collaboration software (649)
-
Drives, Motors and Controls (3,361)
- Drives, Motors and Controls (1)
- Precision Motors and Gears (411)
- Industrial Drives/Controls (1,276)
- Linear Drives and Motors (114)
- Industrial Motors (497)
- Stepper and Servo Drives, Motors, Controls (1,060)
- Small Mechanical Components, Joining, Tools (1,975)
-
Control and Instrumentation (5,028)
- Plantwide control (1,324)
- Plant- and Machine-Wide Communications (1,174)
- Smaller-Sized PLCs (387)
- CNC and Motion Controllers (184)
- Mid-range and Large PLCs (201)
- Power Supplies, Uninterruptible Power (562)
- HMIs/Operator Interfaces (294)
- Logic Controllers, Timers and Relays (96)
- Cabling, Conduit, Signal Conditioning (806)
-
Monitoring, Measurement and Quality (5,459)
- Monitoring, Measurement and Quality (1)
- Data acquisition Software and Communications (494)
- Data Acquisition Hardware and PC I/O Boards (472)
- Electrical and Electronic Testing, PAT Equipment (630)
- Form/co-ordinate, optical, vision instruments (703)
- Gauges, Indicators and Instruments (440)
- Data loggers (422)
- Materials testing equipment (421)
- Telecomms/network test equipment, software etc (154)
- Testing and Calibration Services and Information (500)
- Testing, analysing and monitoring equipment (1,222)
-
Electrical and Electronic Equipment Design (4,160)
- Batteries, chargers and circuit protection (555)
- Connectors, Terminals, Busbars, Slip Rings (679)
- Enclosures and Equipment Cooling Fans (709)
- Knobs, Handles and Enclosure Hardware (420)
- PCs and Embedded Systems (798)
- Electrical and Electronic Subassemblies (369)
- Electrical and Electronic Components (630)
-
Materials and Processing (2,963)
- Materials and Processing (5)
- Materials and components (2,215)
- Rapid Prototyping (458)
- Materials processing and testing (285)
-
Engineering Industry News, Resources (6,093)
- Engineering Industry News, Resources (4)
- Engineering Business News, Views (388)
- Engineering Exhibitions, Events (562)
- Engineering Conferences (425)
- Engineering Seminars (400)
- Engineering Industry Developments, Awards (633)
- Engineering Guides, Newsletters (349)
- Engineering Recruitment, Employment (219)
- Engineering Training Courses (433)
- Engineering Education, Resources, Standards (838)
- Engineering Industry Reports, Surveys (597)
- Electronic Resources for Engineers (278)
- Health and Safety Legislation (402)
- Health and Safety Strategy, Risk Assessment (113)
- Health and Safety Consultancy, Software (175)
- Health and Safety Events, Training, News (277)
-
Powertrain Design (3,598)
- Powertrain Design (2)
- Bearings (939)
- Chains and belts (326)
- Gears, brakes, couplings and engines (1,441)
- Hydraulic Components (471)
- Lubricants (418)
-
Capital Equipment (3,387)
- Capital Equipment (1)
- Manufacturing Machinery and Plant Equipment (468)
- Production line blowers and fans (62)
- Compressors and Air Treatment (510)
- Electronics Manufacturing, Tools, Instruments (192)
- Electrical hardware (131)
- Machinery and Production Equipment (1,093)
- Robotics, Handling and Storage (930)
-
Sensors (7,080)
- Sensors (8)
- Accelerometers and Vibration Sensors (427)
- Loadcells, Force Sensors, Torque Sensors (699)
- Pressure sensors (621)
- Flowmeters and Flow Sensors (618)
- Level Sensors and Leak Detectors (527)
- Linear Position Sensors (399)
- Rotary Position, Tilt and Angular Sensors (546)
- Proximity Sensors (700)
- Gas, Chemical, Radiation, Magnetic Sensors (284)
- Humidity and Environmental Sensors (152)
- Temperature sensors (612)
- Vision and Colour Sensors (1,384)
- Barcode Sensors (103)
- Valves, Pumps, Process Hardware (3,623)
