Category: Latest Updates

Dortmund – Der Vorstand der NORDWEST Handel AG berichtet über die Entwicklung des Geschäftsvolumens per 30.06.2019 wie folgt:

Mit einem Geschäftsvolumen von 1.631,3 Mio. EUR und einem Anstieg von +10,7% setzt die NORDWEST Handel AG ihren eingeschlagenen Wachstumskurs auch per 30.06.2019 fort. Erstmalig wird bereits zum Halbjahr die 1,5 Milliarden EUR Grenze überschritten und somit ein weiterer Rekord aufgestellt.

Per Juni entwickeln sich ausnahmslos alle Geschäftsbereiche und Geschäftsarten im Vorjahresvergleich positiv. Bei der Entwicklung der Geschäftsarten überzeugt neben der beeindruckenden Entwicklung im Zentralregulierungsgeschäft (+10,5%) und im Streckengeschäft (+13,0%) weiterhin die überragende Entwicklung im Lagergeschäft. Hier wird mit einem Volumen von 87,9 Mio. EUR das Vorjahr um fast +10% übertroffen. Und auch die Anzahl der angeschlossenen Fachhandelspartner wächst stetig. Zum 30.06.2019 steigt die Zahl gegenüber dem 31.12.2018 um 47 auf nunmehr 1.099.

Entwicklung des Geschäftsvolumens mit Blick auf die Geschäftsbereiche

Per 30.06.2019 übertreffen alle Geschäftsbereiche ihr Geschäftsvolumen im Vergleich zum Vorjahr deutlich. Hier ist insbesondere der Geschäftsbereich Haustechnik hervorzuheben. Basierend auf der strategischen Neuausrichtung und dem damit verbundenen Gewinn neuer Fachhandelspartner kann die sehr starke Entwicklung der Vormonate weiter fortgesetzt werden. Diese spiegelt sich in dem deutlichen Anstieg des Geschäftsvolumens um +15,7% auf 106,3 Mio. EUR wider.

Auch der Bereich Stahl kann seinen eingeschlagenen Wachstumskurs weiter fortsetzen. Grundlage für das starke Wachstum des Geschäftsvolumens um +9,7% auf nunmehr 626,1 Mio. EUR bildet dabei die deutliche Ausweitung der abgesetzten Tonnage. Mit einem Geschäftsvolumen von 591,4 Mio. EUR (+6,5%) setzt auch der Kerngeschäftsbereich Bau-Handwerk-Industrie seine dynamische Entwicklung weiter fort. Dabei ist das Lagergeschäft mit einem Volumen von 74,5 Mio. EUR und einem Zuwachs von +11,8% gegenüber dem Vorjahr weiter die Grundlage des Erfolges. Und auch der Geschäftsbereich TeamFaktor/Services bleibt auf Erfolgskurs. Angetrieben durch den weiteren Ausbau des Kundenstamms wird per 30.06.2019 ein Geschäftsvolumen von 307,4 Mio. EUR und damit ein Anstieg von 20,6% erzielt.

Der Zwischenbericht per 30.06.2019 wird voraussichtlich am 15.08.2019 veröffentlicht


Über die NORDWEST Handel AG:

Die NORDWEST Handel AG mit Sitz in Dortmund gehört seit 1919 zu den leistungsstärksten Verbundunternehmen des Produktionsverbindungshandels (PVH). Die Kernaufgaben des Verbandes zur Unterstützung der über 1.090 Fachhandelspartner aus den Bereichen Stahl, Bau-Handwerk-Industrie und Sanitär- und Heizungstechnik (Haustechnik) liegen in der Bündelung der Einkaufsvolumina, der Zentralregulierung, einem starken Zentrallager sowie in umfangreichen Dienstleistungen. NORDWEST ist auch in Europa, insbesondere in den Schwerpunktländern Österreich, Schweiz, Frankreich, Polen sowie Benelux aktiv.

Quelle und Bilder: NORDWEST Handel AG  

Beitragsbild: Vorstand der NORDWEST Handel AG:  Martin Bertinchamp (li), Jörg Simon (re)

Steelmaker ArcelorMittal Italia has declared force majeure after an incident earlier this week, which has seen parts of the Taranto plant seized and blast furnaces two and four taken off line for two days.

Following a tragic incident, whereby a worker fell into the sea amid bad weather conditions, unions called strikes. Authorities have since seized pier number 4 for investigation and the company is now “unable to fully operate in the affected areas for the foreseeable future”, it said in a letter obtained by Argus.

“To date, we are unable to determine how long this force majeure will continue,” ArcelorMittal said.

There were not enough staff to securely operate the machinery yesterday because of the industrial action, called after high winds toppled a crane, dislodging the worker.

But unions are said to have called off the strike and are returning to work, so furnaces two and four will be restarted quickly.

The blast furnace stoppages have impacted 10,000-12,000 t/d of output, market participants said. Buyers are already reporting delays to orders.

ArcelorMittal Italia’s current issues have attracted significant attention — ranging from the company’s talks with the government over the Crescita Lawto a judge ordering the closure of blast furnace two — but the impact on the weak European market has so far been limited.

Mills are on short lead times so buyers are content to hold back and not rush to procure, despite signals from some producers that they will seek price increases for September after the summer holiday period.

The Argus daily Italian hot-rolled coil index was flat at €456.25/t yesterday, at a €19/t discount to the northwest Europe index. The discount for Italian origin coil shrank to as little as €4/t a month ago, when German mills were selling to Italy, a reversal of the typical flow. Italian mills had reacted to rises in import costs and secured increases more quickly than their northern counterparts, after announcements of production cuts and price increases.

Since then the northwest market has been fairly steady, at relatively low price levels, while Italian mills have had to reduce prices because of low lead times and weak demand.

Steelmaker ArcelorMittal Italia had to take off line blast furnaces two and four at its Taranto steelworks in quick time yesterday, after unions called a strike because of a worker falling into the sea.

There were not enough staff to securely operate the machinery because of the industrial action, called after high winds toppled the crane, dislodging the worker.

But unions are said to have called off the strike and are returning to work, so furnaces two and four will be restarted “very quickly”.

While ArcelorMittal Italia’s current issues have attracted significant press attention — from the company’s talks with the government over the Crescita Law to a judge ordering the closure of blast furnace two — the impact on the staggeringly weak European market has been very limited.

Mills are on very short lead times so buyers are content to hold back and not rush to procure, despite signals from some producers that they will seek increases for September after the summer holiday period.

The Argus daily Italian hot-rolled coil index was flat at €456.25/t yesterday, at a €19/t discount to the northwest EU index. The discount for Italian origin coil shrank to as little as €4/t a month ago, when German mills were selling to Italy, a reversal of the typical flow. Italian mills had reacted to rises in import costs and secured increases more quickly than their northern counterparts, after announcements of production cuts and price increases.

Since then the northwest market has been fairly steady, at low levels, while Italian mills have had to reduce prices because of low lead times and anaemic demand.

EUROMETAL attended a meeting between national associations of steel distribution this Wednesday and Thursday in Brussels. 
This meeting was co-prepared by the Belgian association Belmetal (former Grymafer) and the Dutch association Staalfederatie. The meeting was attended by delegates from Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Netherlands, Spain and Switzerland. 

The aim of the meeting was to build in the near future a complementary relationship between national federations that are active at the country level and EUROMETAL that provides help and support at European level.

Daniel Guinabert, Director General of EUROMETAL, drew attention to the fact that federations must discover together how to create more added value to their members. A global consensus was shared by all attendees.

An Italian public prosecutor has ordered a production halt at ArcelorMittal Italia’s blast furnace No. 2. ArcelorMittal Italia said Wednesday that it is studying the court’s notification, assessing technical aspects and hopes to keep the furnace open.

AM Italia told S&P Platts in an emailed statement that it received notification Tuesday of an order from the Taranto Public Prosecutor Prosecutor to start the process of shutting down BF No. 2 at its Taranto plant.

“Our intention is to collaborate as always with the relevant authorities and work towards an acceptable solution that will ensure the blast furnace can remain operational avoiding the risk of disruption,” the company told Platts.

Despite its 2 million mt/year design capacity, BF No. 2 is currently working with a crude steel production target of 1.5 million mt/year.

ArcelorMittal said the issue dates back to July 2015 when, following a fatal accident, the Taranto public prosecutor ordered the seizure of the furnace. It has operated since that time under a special accord between the Italian government, AM Italia’s troubled predecessor Ilva and Ilva’s administrators, on the condition that improvements would be undertaken.

After it took over the mill last year, ArcelorMittal attempted to gain full legal control of the BF but during a recent preliminary hearing on this case appointed technicians said the company had not fulfilled safety requirements and judges requested the furnace’s total closure.

It is understood that on Tuesday ArcelorMittal representatives met the Italian government to discuss the problem as well as the 1,400 temporary layoffs planned at the site and the so-called Crescita law decree, under which the government wishes to cancel the steelmaker’s criminal immunity regarding pollution remedies adopted at the site.

ArcelorMittal has already said that this new decree “will make it impossible for the company to continue to operate,” with some company representatives hinting at the idea that the company could now pull out from new investments if tensions continue with the Italian government.

— Annalisa Villa

Shipments from European flat steel service centres (SSC) recovered year-on-year in May for the first time in 2019, according to the latest report by the regional steel distributors’ association EUROMETAL.

In a note sent to Kallanish, the association says that overall SSC shipments rose by 1% y-o-y in May. Although this was the first positive monthly on-year change in 2019, the aggregate figure for the first five months of the year remains negative (-1.9% y-o-y), EUROMETAL says.

The trend in SSC shipments was accompanied by a rising trend in SSC stock indices. When expressed in days of shipments, stocks at EU SSC were 70 days in May 2019, compared to 67 days in May 2018.  For May 2019, the stock volumes’ index was 119, compared with a figure of 114 in May 2018 (average 2015 = index 100).

Multi products proximity distributors’ shipments continued to underperform compared with last year. These were down -1.7% y-o-y in May and -2.5% y-o-y over the January-May period, EUROMETAL adds. The stock volume index for these products was practically unchanged y-o-y at 100 (May 2018 – 101). When expressed in days of shipments, stock volumes levelled in May at 76 days of shipments, unchanged when compared to  May 2018.

Workers at ArcelorMittal Italia started full strike action in the early hours of Thursday for an indefinite period, on grounds of safety, and are taking action to bank the Taranto works’ blast furnaces Nos. 2 and 4, union sources said Thursday morning.

This action followed an accident late Wednesday when a crane being operated by a worker at the Taranto works’ raw materials pier fell into the sea. ArcelorMittal Italia confirmed Thursday morning that a worker who was operating the crane was still missing but they declined to comment on production.

“Following the tragic accident that occurred last night at the pier in concession to ArcelorMittal Italia in the port of Taranto, when the DM5 crane fell into the sea, ArcelorMittal Italia can confirm that our colleague who was operating the crane is still missing,” the company said in an emailed statement.

“In line with normal procedure after an accident of this nature, the Taranto Public Prosecutor’s Office seized the area and the machines. We are working with the authorities and rescuers and we are in contact with family and colleagues, to whom we are providing all possible support. Investigations to determine the exact cause of the crane’s fall are ongoing.”

Union sources including those from Fiom-Cgil, the main metalworkers’ union at the Taranto works, said the two blast furnaces have been put in standby mode, being kept warm but not producing hot metal. Each furnace recently had been operating with a target production capacity of 1.5 million mt/year. The cold-rolling portion of the mill has also been put on stand-by, sources told S&P Global Platts.

According to a reliable union source, only BF No. 1 was working without any problem at the Taranto works as of Thursday afternoon. It has been working with a crude steel production target of 1.2 million mt/year.

The Taranto works is Italy’s biggest flat steel products producer. The latest development occurred on the heels of an Italian public prosecutor on Tuesday ordering a production halt at ArcelorMittal Italia’s blast furnace No. 2 following allegations that improvements promised for the works after a previous accident there in 2015 — when the mill was under previous management — had not been fully undertaken. ArcelorMittal said Tuesday that it was working with the relevant authorities towards an acceptable solution that would ensure the blast furnace could remain operational, avoiding the risk of disruption.

“We are demanding clarity that this mill is safe, as well as we want to understand AM plans regarding production, but we are also demanding clarity from the government about the [Crescita] decree and to understand AM’s plans,” said a union source following a meeting with management.

As previously reported, ArcelorMittal entered a dispute with the Italian unions after announcing 1,400 temporary layoffs following the decision to target 5 million mt/year crude steel production for this year rather than 6 million mt.

ArcelorMittal also engaged with the Italian government about the so-called Crescita law decree, under which the government wishes to cancel the steelmaker’s criminal immunity regarding pollution remedies adopted at the site. ArcelorMittal has already said that this new decree “will make it impossible for the company to continue to operate,” with some company representatives hinting that the company could now pull out from new investments if tensions continue with the government.

— Annalisa Villa

The new galvanizing line at ArcelorMittal’s mill in Florange in north-eastern France is currently under construction, Kallanish learns from the company.

With start-up expected by the end of the year, the new line will eventually produce 800,000 tonnes of high-strength automotive steel over time and will ultimately employ 80 people, including 25 new hires.

“For this project, the region will provide support for the acquisition of equipment. The aim is to strengthen the future of the Florange site as a specialist in high value-added automotive steel,” ArcelorMittal reveals in a note. This is part of a major investment in the group’s automotive steel production in France. The company will spend a total of €96 million ($107.5m) on improving its facilities in Florange and Dunkerque (see Kallanish 30 July 2017).

Last year Florange set a new site record for galvanized steel production. Galvanizing line No. 1 at the site attained an output of 500,000t of galvaized product in 2018, a record for the line.

The ArcelorMittal site in Florange employs 2,300 people and produces 7 million tonnes/year of steel mainly for the automotive and packaging sectors, Kallanish notes.

ArcelorMittal’s problems at the former Ilva plant in Taranto have continued this week. On Tuesday the unions and the management met with the Italian economic development minister Luigi Di Maio to discuss the possibility that ArcelorMittal would cease control of the plant in early September. Meanwhile a local court judgement has confirmed that the company should prepare to idle blast furnace number 2 at the site.

Reports in Italian media this week confirmed that the contract signed between ArcelorMittal and the Italian authorities allows ArcelorMittal to rescind the agreement in case rules are changed after the contract is signed. The company would therefore appear to be able to relinquish control of the mill as soon as 6 September, Kallanishnotes. This is when the current decree could remove the existing legal safeguards in place to protect the group from incurring liability for environmental issues that occurred before it took control of the plant.

Di Maio explained during a meeting with the unions and the representatives of ArcelorMittal on Tuesday that legal immunity will not be given back to ArcelorMittal, despite the threats of closure. He assured that ArcelorMittal would not have problems as long as it respects the environmental plan, but this might not be sufficient.

Meanwhile, also on Tuesday, a local magistrate ordered ArcelorMittal to begin procedures to temporarily idle blast furnace number 2 of theTaranto plant. The request is linked to the conclusion of an investigation following a fatal accident which occurred in 2015.

ArcelorMittal could well come to an agreement with the magistrate over new remedies to ensure the safety of blast furnace number 2 and keep it open. This new issue at the mill however could well also impact the steelmaker’s upcoming decisions about running the former Ilva operations.

Fernando Espada, President of EUROMETAL, Daniel Guinabert, Director General of EUROMETAL and Ricardo Silva, EUROMETAL officer, attended a compliance training course in the offices of Henseler & Partner Rechtsanwälte mbB at Düsseldorf on 9 July 2019.

The aim of the course was refreshing and deepening knowledges on the topic of compliance within EUROMETAL as a trade association.

The content of the training:

• general introduction to the topic of compliance
• rights, duties and liability of management bodies / executive committees
• delegation of compliance duties / role of the Compliance Officer
• implications of anti-trust law
• current regulatory activities of competition authorities
• guidelines for association meetings
• components of a comprehensive compliance system
• corruption risks

A Compliance Training Certificate was delivered to all participants.