EU steel distribution activity dips over January-April

The activity of European steel distributors continued to be negative compared with last year during the first four months of 2019 , according to the latest report by their trade association Eurometal. In a note sent to Kallanish, the association says that shipments from flat steel service centres (SSC) were “… disappointing.”

SSC saw shipments fall by -3.8% year-on-year, while proximity and multiproducts distributors’ shipments moved down -2.7% y-o-y. When expressed in days of shipments, stocks at EU SSC reached 75 days in April 2019, compared to 72 days in April 2018.  For April 2019, the index of stock volumes was at 116, compared with an index of 110 in April 2018 (average 2015 = index 100), Eurometal says.

Eurometal notes that, for multiproducts and proximity distributors, only profiles, rebars and hot-rolled flats registered higher shipments during the first four months of the year, compared with 2018.