That dollar amount represents a 156.7% expansion compared to 2017 when stainless steel exports were worth $2.2 billion. From 2020 to 2021, the value of globally exported stainless steel accelerated by 101.4%.
The 5 biggest exporters of stainless steel in 2021 are Indonesia, United Kingdom, Sweden, Italy and the United States of America. That powerful cohort generated 87% of exported stainless steel by value.
Among continents, exporters in Asia sold the highest dollar worth of exported stainless steel during 2021 with shipments valued at $3.9 billion or well over two-thirds (70.1%) of world exports for that commodity. In second place were European exporters via a 27.1% share.
Tinier percentages came from providers in North America (2.7%), Oceania (0.12%) mostly Australia, Africa (0.05%) and Latin America (0.01%) excluding Mexico but including the Caribbean.
For research purposes, the 4-digit Harmonized Tariff System code prefix is 7218 for stainless steel in primary forms including ingots.
Stainless Steel Exporters by Country
Below are the 15 countries that exported the highest dollar value worth of stainless steel during 2021.
- Indonesia: US$3.7 billion (67.1% of total stainless steel exports)
- United Kingdom: $657.8 million (11.8%)
- Sweden: $236.4 million (4.3%)
- Italy: $119 million (2.1%)
- United States: $93.6 million (1.7%)
- Austria: $82.9 million (1.5%)
- Taiwan: $75.7 million (1.4%)
- Finland: $74.8 million (1.3%)
- Belgium: $71.3 million (1.3%)
- France: $68.4 million (1.2%)
- Germany: $54.2 million (1%)
- Canada: $53.8 million (1%)
- Spain: $35.9 million (0.6%)
- India: $32.3 million (0.6%)
- South Korea: $28.1 million (0.5%)
By value, the listed 15 countries shipped 97.4% of global stainless steel exported in 2021.
Among the top exporters, the fastest-growing exporters of stainless steel from 2020 to 2021 were: Finland (up 2,491%), South Korea (up 883.9%), Indonesia (up 128.5%) and India (up 121.5%).
Spain was the sole top exporter to post a decline in its sales of exported stainless steel thanks to its -41.8% slowdown compared to 2020.
Countries Generating Biggest Surpluses Trading Stainless Steel
The following countries posted the highest positive net exports for stainless steel during 2021. Investopedia defines net exports as the value of a country’s total exports minus the value of its total imports. Thus, the statistics below present the surplus between the value of each country’s exported stainless steel and its import purchases for that same commodity.
- Indonesia: $3.7 billion (up 130.2% from 2020)
- United Kingdom: $626.1 million (up 110.3%)
- Canada: $41.7 million (up 242.4%)
- Austria: $30.2 million (up 10.5%)
- Denmark: $12 million (up 251.9%)
- Norway: $8.8 million (up 138.7%)
- Slovenia: $6.4 million (up 65.7%)
- Australia: $6.3 million (up 37.5%)
- Finland: $4.2 million (reversing a -$3.5 million deficit)
- Azerbaijan: $3.7 million (up 143.1%)
- Serbia: $1.4 million (up 171%)
- Zambia: $1.1 million (down -4.7%)
- Nigeria: $647,000 (reversing a -$137,000 deficit)
- Croatia: $319,000 (down -39.1%)
- Hong Kong: $109,000 (up 7.9%)
World-leading supplier Indonesia earned the highest surplus in the international trade of stainless steel. In turn, this positive cashflow confirms Indonesia’s strong competitive advantage for this specific product category.
Countries Posting Worst Deficits Trading Stainless Steel
The following countries posted the highest negative net exports for stainless steel during 2021. Investopedia defines net exports as the value of a country’s total exports minus the value of its total imports. Thus, the statistics below present the deficit between the value of each country’s imported stainless steel purchases and its exports for that same commodity.
- mainland China: -US$2.4 billion (net export deficit up 81% since 2019)
- Taiwan: -$412.9 million (up 180.3%)
- Sweden: -$277.8 million (up 363.2%)
- United States of America: -$141.1 million (up 56.9%)
- Italy: -$133.3 million (up 104%)
- Turkey: -$128.4 million (up 424.8%)
- France: -$90.3 million (up 17.4%)
- Germany: -$58 million (up 106.3%)
- Portugal: -$46.2 million (up 57.1%)
- South Africa: -$40.7 million (reversing a $445,000 surplus)
- Belgium: -$32.9 million (up 27.4%)
- Spain: -$32.1 million (reversing a $22.6 million surplus)
- India: -$24.1 million (up 56.4%)
- Ukraine: -$15.5 million (down -18.3%)
- Russia: -$13.1 million (up 42.1%)
The People’s Republic of China incurred the highest deficit in the international trade of stainless steel. In turn, this negative cashflow highlights China’s strong competitive disadvantage for this specific product category but also signals opportunities for stainless steel-supplying countries to help satisfy the powerful demand.
Stainless Steel Exporting Companies
Below are global stainless steel-processing conglomerates that represent established players engaged in the international trade of stainless steel. Each home country is shown within parenthesis.
- Acerinox, SA (Spain)
- British Steel Limited (United Kingdom)
- China Steel (Taiwan)
- Gruppo Riva (Italy)
- Nucor Corporation (United States)
- SSAB AB (Sweden)
- Tata Steel Limited (India)
- ThyssenKrupp AG (Germany)
- Vallourec (France)
- Voestalpine (Austria)
Searchable List of Stainless Steel Exporting Countries in 2021
As listed below, the 74 suppliers of stainless steel exporting to worldwide markets generated all international sales in 2021.
| Rank | Exporter | Stainless Steel Exports (US$) | 2020-1 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Indonesia | $3,726,820,000 | +128.5% |
| 2. | United Kingdom | $657,840,000 | +101.7% |
| 3. | Sweden | $236,416,000 | +60.2% |
| 4. | Italy | $119,031,000 | +66.9% |
| 5. | United States | $93,644,000 | +33.8% |
| 6. | Austria | $82,873,000 | +11.3% |
| 7. | Taiwan | $75,694,000 | +105.2% |
| 8. | Finland | $74,796,000 | +2491% |
| 9. | Belgium | $71,288,000 | +53.6% |
| 10. | France | $68,436,000 | +35.1% |
| 11. | Germany | $54,215,000 | +3.7% |
| 12. | Canada | $53,777,000 | +100.5% |
| 13. | Spain | $35,898,000 | -41.8% |
| 14. | India | $32,257,000 | +121.5% |
| 15. | South Korea | $28,060,000 | +883.9% |
| 16. | Netherlands | $21,424,000 | +63.4% |
| 17. | Denmark | $15,790,000 | +44.4% |
| 18. | Portugal | $13,918,000 | +131.8% |
| 19. | Vietnam | $11,866,000 | +7.2% |
| 20. | Norway | $11,525,000 | +77.3% |
| 21. | Czech Republic | $9,611,000 | -8% |
| 22. | Poland | $7,520,000 | +37.1% |
| 23. | Slovenia | $7,415,000 | +38.2% |
| 24. | Australia | $6,641,000 | +35.9% |
| 25. | Japan | $6,186,000 | -10.8% |
| 26. | Singapore | $5,689,000 | +63.9% |
| 27. | Hungary | $4,318,000 | -3.6% |
| 28. | Azerbaijan | $3,738,000 | +134.8% |
| 29. | Ukraine | $2,947,000 | +13.5% |
| 30. | Slovakia | $2,845,000 | -42.1% |
| 31. | Serbia | $1,808,000 | +137% |
| 32. | Switzerland | $1,501,000 | -10.8% |
| 33. | China | $1,282,000 | +2.7% |
| 34. | Ireland | $1,199,000 | -5.8% |
| 35. | Zambia | $1,138,000 | -6% |
| 36. | Croatia | $864,000 | +6.3% |
| 37. | Nigeria | $844,000 | +250.2% |
| 38. | South Africa | $712,000 | +16.9% |
| 39. | Turkey | $635,000 | -33.2% |
| 40. | Latvia | $583,000 | -33.1% |
| 41. | Thailand | $422,000 | -28.5% |
| 42. | Brazil | $400,000 | -47.8% |
| 43. | Russia | $379,000 | -58.2% |
| 44. | Malaysia | $340,000 | -98.6% |
| 45. | United Arab Emirates | $307,000 | -93% |
| 46. | Estonia | $293,000 | -10.9% |
| 47. | Hong Kong | $223,000 | +84.3% |
| 48. | Lithuania | $167,000 | +827.8% |
| 49. | Tunisia | $133,000 | -93.1% |
| 50. | New Zealand | $115,000 | +259.4% |
| 51. | Uzbekistan | $110,000 | +175% |
| 52. | Romania | $61,000 | +5.2% |
| 53. | Philippines | $50,000 | -41.2% |
| 54. | Pakistan | $45,000 | -16.7% |
| 55. | Luxembourg | $42,000 | +740% |
| 56. | Bahrain | $42,000 | +55.6% |
| 57. | Bulgaria | $31,000 | -46.6% |
| 58. | Mozambique | $27,000 | 0% |
| 59. | Guatemala | $24,000 | -35.1% |
| 60. | Peru | $13,000 | 0% |
| 61. | Egypt | $7,000 | -65% |
| 62. | Sri Lanka | $7,000 | -82.9% |
| 63. | Chile | $6,000 | -83.3% |
| 64. | Saudi Arabia | $6,000 | -68.4% |
| 65. | Faroe Islands | $5,000 | 0% |
| 66. | Israel | $5,000 | 0% |
| 67. | Iran | $4,000 | -92.5% |
| 68. | Bosnia/Herzegovina | $4,000 | +300% |
| 69. | Belarus | $3,000 | -57.1% |
| 70. | Malta | $3,000 | 0% |
| 71. | Colombia | $2,000 | -33.3% |
| 72. | Oman | $2,000 | -75% |
| 73. | Equatorial Guinea | $1,000 | 0% |
| 74. | Bolivia | $1,000 | 0% |
You can change the presentation order by clicking the triangle icon at the top of the columns. An entry of 0% in the right-most column means that 2020 data was unavailable.
Overall, the fastest growing exporters are Finland (up 2,491% from 2020), South Korea (up 883.9%), Lithuania (up 827.8%), Luxembourg (up 740%), Bosnia and Herzegovina (up 300%), New Zealand (up 259.4%) then Nigeria (up 250.2%).
Main Exporters of Stainless Steel by Shipment Weight
In 2021, the overall volume for worldwide shipments of stainless steel totaled 2.355 million tons. That physical tonnage is 124% higher than 5 years earlier in 2017 and 59.5% greater than one year earlier in 2020.
The following 15 countries were responsible for 98.5% of the total shipment weight for stainless steel.
- Indonesia: 1,827,287 tons of stainless steel exports (up 68% from 2020)
- United Kingdom: 218,682 tons (up 55.2%)
- Sweden: 54,739 tons (up 29.8%)
- Italy: 30,945 tons (up 73%)
- Belgium: 24,283 tons (up 36.8%)
- Austria: 19,561 tons (down -5.6%)
- Finland: 19,068 tons (up 3,257%)
- France: 18,600 tons (up 30.9%)
- Taiwan: 18,538 tons (up 107.8%)
- United States: 17,732 tons (up 61.7%)
- Canada: 17,205 tons (up 66.2%)
- Germany: 17,002 tons (up 5%)
- India: 16,749 tons (up 143.3%)
- South Korea: 11,151 tons (up 451.2%)
- Spain: 8,197 tons (down -48.6%)
Posting the strongest growth in quantities of stainless steel exported from 2020 to 2021 were suppliers in Finland (up 3,257%), South Korea (up 451.2%), India (up 143.3%), Taiwan (up 107.8%) and Italy (up 73%).
Average Unit Prices for Top Stainless Steel Exporters
During 2021, the worldwide average unit price for exported stainless steel was $2,359 per ton.
The global average price is 14.4% higher than the $2,062 unit price for 2017. The inflation rate for stainless steel exports accelerated by 26.3% from $1,868 per ton in 2020.
The following list itemizes the average unit prices for stainless steel exported by the top 15 international suppliers of stainless steel sorted by shipment value.
Also shown is the change in average unit prices per exporting country from 2020 to 2021.
- Indonesia: US$2,040 per ton of stainless steel (up 36.1% from 2020)
- United Kingdom: $3,008 per ton (up 29.9%)
- Sweden: $4,319 per ton (up 23.4%)
- Italy: $3,847 per ton (down -3.5%)
- United States: $5,281 per ton (down -17.3%)
- Austria: $4,237 per ton (up 18%)
- Taiwan: $4,083 per ton (down -1.3%)
- Finland: $3,923 per ton (down -22.9%)
- Belgium: $2,936 per ton (up 12.3%)
- France: $3,679 per ton (up 3.2%)
- Germany: $3,189 per ton (down -1.3%)
- Canada: $3,126 per ton (up 20.6%)
- Spain: $4,379 per ton (up 13.3%)
- India: $1,926 per ton (down -9%)
- South Korea: $2,516 per ton (up 78.4%)
Among the leading exporters of stainless steel, only India and Indonesia charge an average unit price less expensive than the global average price of $2,359 per ton.
The highest average prices are charged by stainless steel exporters in the United States of America, Spain and Sweden.
See also Iron Ore Exports by Country, Copper Ore Exports bv Country, Top Nickel Exporters by Country, Top Cork Exporting Countries, Plastic Item Exports by Country and Top Aluminum Exporters by Country
Research Sources:
Central Intelligence Agency, The World Factbook Field Listing: Exports – Commodities. Accessed on June 4, 2022
Forbes Global 2000 rankings, The World’s Biggest Public Companies. Accessed on June 4, 2022
International Trade Centre, Trade Map. Accessed on June 4, 2022
Investopedia, Net Exports Definition. Accessed on June 4, 2022
Wikipedia, List of steel producers. Accessed on June 4, 2022
