The USGS estimated U.S. imports in 1998 to be about 418,000 tonnes gross weight. The low end was down 19 percent from the previous year while the high end slipped 37 percent in a market that remained quiet throughout the last half of 1998. The Asian economic crisis that began in 1997 and spilled over into 1998 reduced demand for many metals, especially stainless steel. This, in turn, reduced world demand for chromium in various forms and led to the chromium price declines. Chromite ore is not produced in the United State, Canada or Mexico and almost all of Brazilian production is consumed in Brazil.
Cuban production is relatively small.
Nippon Steel Corp. began commercial output in October of electrogalvanized steel sheet that contains no chromium. Also, Kawasaki Steel Corp. succeeded in producing 100 percent of its stainless steel by direct charging of chromium ore instead of ferrochrome at its Chiba Works. Meanwhile a dispute over ownership rights locked up thousands of tons of high-carbon Kazakhstan ferrochrome for much of the year. All rights reserved.