During about 40 years from 1960 to 1999, the output of stainless steel in western countries soared from 2.15 million tons to 17.28 million tons, an increase of about 8 times, with an average annual growth rate of about 5.5%. Stainless steel is mainly used in kitchens, home appliances, transportation, construction, and civil engineering. In terms of kitchen utensils, there are mainly washing tanks and electric and gas water heaters, and home appliances mainly include the drum of automatic washing machines. From the viewpoint of environmental protection such as energy saving and recycling, the demand for stainless steel is expected to expand further. In the field of transportation, there are mainly exhaust systems for railway vehicles and automobiles.
The stainless steel used in the exhaust system is about 20-30kg per vehicle, and the annual demand in the world is about 1 million tons. This is the largest application field of stainless steel.
In the construction sector, the recent sharp increase in demand, such as: the guards of the Singapore subway station, uses about 5,000 tons of stainless steel exterior decorative materials. Another example is Japan after 1980, the stainless steel used in the construction industry has increased by about four times, mainly used for roofs, building interior and exterior decoration and structural materials.In the 1980s, 304-type unpainted materials were used as roofing materials in the coastal areas of Japan, and the use of painted stainless steel was gradually changed from the consideration of rust prevention. In the 1990s, ferritic stainless steel with a high corrosion resistance of more than 20% high Cr was developed and used as a roof material, and various surface finishing techniques were developed for aesthetics.
In the field of civil engineering, stainless steel is used for dam suction towers in Japan. In the cold regions of Europe and the United States, in order to prevent the freezing of highways and bridges, it is necessary to sprinkle salt, which accelerates the corrosion of steel bars, so stainless steel steel bars are used. In the roads in North America, about 40 stainless steel bars have been used in the past three years, and the consumption of each place is 200-1000 tons. In the future, stainless steel will make a difference in the market in this field.
