German steel distributors’ sales rise in May, stocks jump 12% on year: BDS

German steel sales by distributors rose 3.53% on the month in May to 867,869 mt and were also slightly higher than the 862,807 mt sold in May 2021, German steel stockholders’ association BDS reported June 20.

The May 2022 sales were nonetheless below the first-quarter average monthly sales recorded at 934,772 mt.

Of the May sales, 282,651 mt were long products and 514,044 mt flat products, the association said.

Steel products stocks held by German distributors also rose in May, BDS reported.

May’s stocks at 2.24 million mt of products were 1.05% higher on the month and notably 12.05% higher than the 1.97 million mt held in May 2021, according to BDS’ data.

“In early 2021 we had particularly low stocks. Stocks now are higher than last year, but still lower compared to other years like 2018 or 2019,“ BDS noted.

The May 2022 stocks also showed an increase on this year’s Q1 average monthly stocks of 2.23 million mt.

Of the May stocks, 799,871 mt were long products and 1.39 million mt were flat products, BDS said.

— Diana Kinch