German stockholders’ Q3 sales below prior year level

Inventories at German steel stockholders remained largely stable in Q3 this year compared to the same period last year, up by 0.5%, while sales saw a 2.4% y-o-y drop in Q3, according to latest figures from the stockholders’ association Bundesverband Deutscher Stahlhandel (BDS).

Stocks remained stable at 2.3 million metric tons in Q3, while sales fell to 893,327 mt, owing to lower sales of long products which saw a fall of 7% y-o-y to 286,304 mt. Flat products sales went down by 2.1% y-o-y.

Stocks of long products grew by 2% y-o-y to 839,907 mt in Q3, whereas flat products remained stable at 1.4 million mt.

In month-on-month comparison, stocks of long steel products went down by 7.9% to 790,022 mt in September, while flat products fell by 1.9% to 1.4 million mt. Sales showed the opposite dynamic in September, indicating a continued upwards trend after the summer slowdown. Sales of long products grew by 1.8% m-o-m to 295,150 mt, whereas flats rose by 3.3% m-o-m to 545,648.

Laura Varriale, PLATTS