January 2012 | Stainless Steels
Battle pauses for New Year: Asian Highlights
In Asia it is not lack of demand that is holding prices down, but excess production, especially over-production in China.
The New Year holiday has quietened China’s markets for a couple of weeks, and markets around the region (where the same Lunar New Year holidays are observed) have also been out of action. They will open with renewed vigour in February. Industrial demand has held up better in Asia than in North America and Europe; demand from construction remains subdued, but it will rise during the first quarter as large outdoor project work resumes with the end of winter.
In Asia it is not lack of demand that is holding prices down, but excess production, especially over-production in China. Early in January the Stainless Steel Council of China’s Special Steel Enterprises Association, estimated that output during 2011 had risen by 11%, reaching 12.5m tonnes. Consumption did not match this increase. The construction industry is an important domestic market, so the measures aimed at property speculation in the government’s...
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