TEX reported that crude stainless steel production in October 2011 by the 7 major Japanese stainless steel mills was 308,978 tonnes, up by 6.3% MoM from 290,487 tonnes recorded in September 2011. The increase compensated the lower output in September, down by 8.8% from the preceding month, as a kind of counteraction to it.

Nippon Steel & Sumikin Stainless Steel produced at Hikari 34,829 tonnes in October as compared to 36,966 tonnes in September and at Yawata produced 83,140 tonnes including some special steel as compared to 61,908 tonnes in September. At Hikari, production was still slow while Yawata kept up with normal monthly production level.

Production during the 10 months of 2011 was 3.052 million tonnes, up by 2.2% from the same period in 2010.

(Sourced from TEX Report Limited)