STAINLESS STEEL EXHIBITING SUPERIOR MIRROR POLISHABILITY, AND PRODUCTION METHOD THEREFOR

To provide a stainless steel with good mirror polishability and a method for producing the same. The stainless steel contains 0.0001 mass% or more and 0.15 mass% or less of C, 0.30 mass% or more and 2.0 mass% or less of Si, 0.1 mass% or more and 15 mass% or less of Mn, 5 mass% or more and 30 mass% or less of Ni, 0.0001 mass% or more and 0.01 mass% or less of S, 16 mass% or more and 25 mass% or less of Cr, 0 mass% or more and 5 mass% or less of Mo, 0 mass% or more and 0.005 mass% or less of Al, 0 mass% or more and 0.0010 mass% or less of Mg, 0.0010 mass% or more and 0.0060 mass% or less of 0, and 0.0001 mass% or more and 0.5 mass% or less of N, and at least includes an inclusion with an equivalent circle diameter of 5 µm or more, having the average composition of 5 mass% or more of MnO, 20 mass% or more of Cr2O3 + Al2O3, 1 mass% or more of Al2O3, and 5 mass% or less of CaO. The number density of the inclusion having the composition is 0.5 inclusions/mm2 or less.