4 September 2025 – Demand for stainless steel in China was already climbing in August. With the start of the peak season, further growth is forecast. German Chancellor Friedrich Merz has announced an industry summit for steel and automotive manufacturers – raising the question: is he making the same mistake as his failed predecessor?
Stainless Steel Demand Continues to Rise at the Start of Peak Season
According to media reports and recent analyses, stainless steel demand in China picked up in August, leading to a significant drawdown in social inventories.
This stronger demand environment allowed local stainless steel mills to increase production: in August, output rose by 3.6% compared to July, and by 2.2% year-on-year.
With the September-October peak season now underway, Asian analysts expect downstream demand to accelerate further.
Rising Demand for Stainless Steel Raw Materials
This trend is already impacting demand and prices for stainless steel raw materials such as nickel, chrome, and molybdenum. Chrome and molybdenum prices, in particular, surged sharply in August. Nickel pig iron (NPI) demand remains solid, with stable prices and upward potential.
In addition, Taiwanese stainless steel producers recently reported strong results for the first half of 2025 and predicted further recovery in the second half.
German Chancellor Announces Steel and Automotive Summit
Olaf Scholz – the unsuccessful predecessor of current Chancellor Friedrich Merz (CDU) – already tried to score political points with large industry summits, but produced little more than empty rhetoric.
Now Friedrich Merz is following the same tired script, announcing a summit of his own for the steel and automotive sectors. Apart from the lobbyists, few will be pleased. And therein lies the real issue: endless repetition of symbolic summits does nothing to create new demand, improve the competitiveness of the millions of SMEs that make up the backbone of the steel industry’s customer base, or boost household consumption.
The Justifications Never Change
Merz’s framing of the “problem” in steel tells its own story: cheap imports from China. What he fails to mention is that Europe depends on steel imports for up to 40% of its needs – because many of these products are simply not produced domestically.
But steelmakers and politicians have long clung to the same mantra: “We’ll just keep doing the same thing over and over again and expect different results.” Everyone with even a basic vocational education knows that this is not how reality works.
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Disclaimer: Many things here represent our opinion. Others are information from the Internet. We can therefore never claim to be correct or complete. And never base a business decision solely on the news you receive from us.
