EU distributors saw sales bounce back in August

European steel distributors saw their sales revive in August after the fall recorded in July. Shipments by flat product service centers (SSC) went up by 9 % y-o-y, after coming under pressure in July 2016 when they dipped by 10 % in a year-on-year comparison, trade association EUROMETAL stated in a report Tuesday.

For the first eight months of 2016, SSC shipments noted a rise of 2 % y-o-y, EUROMETAL said.

In July shipments had fallen as service centers faced difficulties to pass on their higher costs as mills pushed for higher prices, EUROMETAL’s general director George Kirps told Platts few days ago at the association’s conference in Milan.

Stock volumes at EU SSC were at an index level of 106 (average 2015=100) in August 2016, compared with 102 in August 2015.

In August 2016, EUROMETAL also reported that general steel stockholders noted a rise in shipments in all their main product lines except for tubes. Their total August shipments rose by +7 % y-o-y. Overall the growth rate for January-August 2016 was 3 % in a year-on-year comparison.

Stock volumes at general steel stockists were at an index level of 101 (average 2015=100) in August 2016, compared with 102 in August 2015.

Annalisa Villa, PLATTS