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In 2003 the global steel market showed signs of recovery. Despite the sluggish development of the global economy, world consumption of steel products in 2003 grew by more than 5% to 884 million tons (2002: 831 million tons)
according to the International Iron and Steel Institute. This increase is mainly due to the dynamic growth in China, where steel consumption grew by over 20% to 257 million tons (2002: 211 million tons). With a share of 29%, China is now
the largest geographical region with regard to steel consumption and has accounted for nearly three quarters of the increase in global steel consumption over the last three years. All other geographical regions developed very moderately and showed
no major increase in consumption. As a result, project activity varied significantly among geographical regions. While international steel producers continued their cautious
investment policy in Europe and the USA, project activity was extremely high in China. Especially in the area of stainless steel, which was the focus market for Andritz, many major reference projects were awarded. The
global stainless steel market continued its solid development in 2003. World consumption of stainless steel is expected to have reached a record level of more than 20.5 million tons in 2003, of which more than 12 million tons are cold-rolled strip.
Especially in China, the largest buyer market for stainless steel, the demand rose very dynamically.
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