are pickled in acid solutions to remove the oxide scale on the surface, then subsequently cold rolled in Sendzimir rolling mills and annealed in a protective atmosphere until the desired thickness and surface finish is obtained. Further operations such as slitting and tube forming can be performed in downstream facilities. Hot-rolled bars are straightened, then machined to the required tolerance and finish. Wire rod coils are subsequently processed to produce cold-finished bars on drawing benches, fasteners on boltmaking machines, and wire on single or multipass drawing machines. World stainless steel production figures are published yearly by the International Stainless Steel Forum. Of the EU production figures, Italy, Belgium and Spain were notable, while Canada and Mexico produced none. China, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, India the US and Indonesia were large producers while Russia reported little production. Breakdown of production by stainless steels families in 2017: Austenitic stainless steels Cr-Ni (also called 300-series, see "Grades" section above): 54% Austenitic stainless steels Cr-Mn (also called 200-series): 21% Ferritic and martensitic stainless steels (also called 400-series): 23% Applications Stainless steel is used in a multitude of fields including architecture, art, chemical engineering, food and beverage manufacture, vehicles, medicine, energy and firearms. Life cycle cost Life cycle cost (LCC) calculations are used to select the design and the materials that will lead to the lowest cost over the whole life of a project, such as a building or a bridge. The formula, in a simple form, is the following: where LCC is the overall life cycle cost, AC is the acquisition cost, IC the installation cost, OC the operating and maintenance costs, LP the cost of lost production due to downtime, and RC the replacement materials cost. In addition, N is the planned life of the project, i the interest rate, and n the year in which a particular OC or LP or RC is taking place. The interest rate (i) is used to convert expenses from different years to their present value (a method widely used by banks and insurance companies) so they can be added and compared fairly. The usage of the sum formula () captures the fact that expenses over the lifetime of a project must be cumulated after they are corrected for interest rate. Application of LCC in materials selection Stainless steel used in projects often results in lower LCC values compared to other materials. The higher acquisition cost (AC)