Global stainless steel production to grow by 4.4% y/y in 2024 – ICDA

Global stainless steel production will grow by 4.4% in 2024 compared to 2023 to 60.53 million tons. Such forecasts were made public at the ICDA 2024 member meeting in Hong Kong, Kallanish reports.

«We expect global stainless steel production to reach the range of 60-61 million tons, which corresponds to an increase of 2-3 million tons,» said Han Jianbiao, CEO of ZLJ Steel.

China and Indonesia will be the main contributors to the overall growth. Production in China will increase by about 5% – to about 40 million tons, while production in Indonesia could reach 5.5 million tons (+20% y/y). Europe is the only region that, according to ICDA forecasts, will experience a decline in 2024 – by 1.8%.

As a result, the total global share of Chinese and Indonesian stainless steel production will reach 72.63%, up from 71.6% in 2023 and 53.24% in 2015.

Demand for stainless steel in the current year from infrastructure, consumer goods, chemical, petrochemical and energy industries will be above average, while heavy industry will reduce consumption. At the same time, demand in the automotive industry is likely to fall.

As GMK Center reported earlier, according to the World Stainless Association, global stainless steel production in 2023 increased by 4.6% compared to 2022 – to 58.4 million tons. Europe decreased production by 6.2% y/y – to 5.9 million tons, the United States – by 9.6% y/y, to 1.82 million tons, Asia (excluding China) – by 7.2% y/y, to 6.88 million tons, China – increased by 12.6% y/y – to 36.68 million tons.