German steel group Klöckner forecasts lower Q4 shipments, sales

German steel and metals distributor Klöckner expects the fourth quarter of 2022 will see a drop in shipments and sales on previous quarters due to destocking and a steel price correction, it said in its earnings outlook.

In Q3 2022 shipments were at 1.15 million mt, down 6.5% from Q2’s 1.23 million mt and 4.1% lower than in Q3 2021.

Q3 sales fell on the quarter to Eur2.5 billion ($2.4 billion), from Eur2.6 billion in Q2, but rose compared with Eur2 billion in Q3 2021.

In the first nine months of 2022, Klöckner sales jumped 36.5% to Eur7.4 billion, mainly due to higher steel and metal prices, while shipments fell 3.7% to 3.63 million mt.

“Despite the challenging economic environment, we have continued to systematically pursue our strategy and achieved key milestones,” CEO Guido Kerkhoff said.

The company said it was continuing to focus on the delivery of reduced-CO2 steel, after it launched in September its new Nexigen brand.

“With the launch of Nexigen, our new brand for CO2-reduced products and services, we are underscoring our ambition as a pioneer of a sustainable steel industry. Having already established our role as digital pioneer for the future of our industry, this further reinforces our position as a reliable partner at our customers’ side,” Kerkhoff said.

According to Platts, a unit of S&P Global Commodity Insights, hot rolled coils prices ex-works Ruhr over Q3 fell from Eur985/mt base ex-works to Eur895/mt base ex-works. Platts assessed hot-rolled coil in Northwest Europe stable day on day at Eur650/mt ex-works Ruhr Nov. 2.

— Annalisa Villa