Inventories at German stockholders remained stable at 2.4 million metric tons in August compared to the same time last year, while sales went up 3.5% year-on-year to 896,544 mt, according to latest figures from the stockholders’ association Bundesverband Deutscher Stahlhandel (BDS).
In a month-on-month comparison, stocks fell by 2.8% in August, whereas sales grew by 5.2%, indicating an uptick in market activity towards the end of the summer holidays. As reported, stocks in July grew slightly by 0.9% m-o-m, whereas sales fell by 13.6%, reflecting market developments at the beginning of the summer when activity started to slow.
Stocks of long products grew by 8% y-o-y to 858,396 mt, while flat product fell slightly by 0.7% y-o-y to 1.4 million mt. Sales of long products showed a 1% y-o-y decline to 289,820 mt. Sales of flat products went up by 11.3% y-o-y to 828,346 mt.
Laura Varriale, PLATTS
