German steel sales rose, stocks fell on month in March: BDS

Germany’s steel products stocks fell on the month in March while sales grew, indicating growing market demand.

The country’s steel product stocks fell to 2.23 million mt in March, down 1.79% from 2.27 million mt in February but were still higher than the 2021 monthly average of 2.02 million mt, the country’s steel stockholders’ association BDS said April 20.

Both long and flat products stocks fell during the month. Long products stocks at 778,537 mt in March were 3% lower than in the previous month while flat products stocks at 1.41 million mt were 1.15% lower.

Average steel stocks for the first quarter totaled 2.23 million mt, composed of 774,139 mt of long products and 1.41 million mt of flat products, the association said.

Upward sales trend

Germany’s steel products sales grew in March to 1.05 million mt, up 14.18% from the shorter month of February and also higher than the 2021 monthly average of 885,549 mt, the BDS figures showed. The higher sales trend shows an upturn in the domestic market.

Both long and flat products sales rose during the month. Long products sales at 358,133 mt were 23.14% higher than in the previous month while flat products sales at 611,974 were 11.16% higher.

Average steel products sales for Q1 totaled 934,772 mt, composed of 298,298 mt of long products and 557,824 mt of flat products, the association said.

— Diana Kinch