German April steel sales slip 8.9% on year: BDS

German steel product sales in April fell 8.9% year on year to 837,201 mt, data from German steel stockholders’ association BDS showed May 25.

The sales volume for the month also dropped 20.1% from March to the lowest monthly volume since December.

The majority, or 57.4%, of sales in April were from the flat product category at 480,753 mt, down 12% year on year and 21.4% lower than the previous month to a four-month low.

Sales of long products in April made up 34.7% of the overall total at 290,866 mt, steady year on year but down 18.8% on the month.

Platts assessed domestic HRC prices in Northern Europe at Eur1,275/mt ex-works Ruhr April 29, down from $1,390/mt at the start of the month, according to S&P Global Commodity Insights.

Stocks of German steel products totaled 2.2 million mt in April, rising 16.1% year on year, although they edged 0.6% lower from March to a three-month low, the BDS data showed.

Flat products made up 62.3% of total inventories in April at 1.4 million mt, which was 33.8% higher year on year, but down 1.5% month on month to a four-month low.

Long products stocks totaled 788,663 mt in April, or 35.5% of the total inventory, dropping 3.8% year on year, but rising 1.3% from March.

— Jacqueline Holman