Covid-19 hits German distributors with delay: BDS

Germany’s stockholding distributors began to suffer increasingly from the consequences of the coronavirus pandemic towards the end of the second quarter, according to the association of stockholders, BDS.

In a poll carried out among BDS members in June, close to half (48%) of companies said they felt a “…noticeable decline in demand from customers attributable to the Covid-19 crisis.” This result differs notably from an earlier poll carried out in mid-April. Until around Easter, 80% of companies polled still felt little to no major decline in demand. However, one third already then reported a decline in order intake.

Asked about their customers, distributors in June related that 59% of consumers reported a decline in business activity caused by the coronavirus. Only 4% were heard saying they had no such issues. Similarly, only 4% of distributors did not expect an upcoming decline in demand from their customers. All others expected either a major (46%) or minor (50%) decline coming, Kallanish learns.

Regarding the nature of customer groups, the industries named as most impacted were automotive and mechanical engineering, but also general metals processing. For construction, only 4% expressed pessimism. Distributors specialising in rebar and their bending shops are the ones suffering least from a lull in activity.