According to the International Stainless Steel Forum, Indonesia is set to surpass India this year as the world’s second-largest producer of stainless steel after China.
With Chinese companies setting up huge stainless steel production facilities in Indonesia, the latter country is now set to produce 4.2 million tonnes this year, representing a massive 75% increase compared with 2020 when Indonesian production ranked fourth in the world. At the same time, India is expected to increase stainless production from 3.2 million tonnes in 2020 to 3.5 million tonnes this year.
The Chinese government’s withdrawal of the stainless steel export tax rebate in May will, of course, reduce shipments out of China. However, India’s imports from the Chinese companies operating in Indonesia are expected to increase significantly. Indeed, the Indian Stainless Steel Development Association expects incoming volumes from Indonesia this year to be double what they were in 2020.
India’s stainless steel market is second only to China in terms of speed of growth and has been the target of large-scale dumping of flat products. Imported material accounted for as much as 24% of the Indian market last year, half of which was from Indonesia.
Currently, maximum annual stainless steel production capacity in Indonesia is estimated at 5.5 million tonnes. As local demand is thought to be only 200,000 tonnes per year, most of the production is targeting export markets such as India.
