Spanish and Portuguese steel distributor representatives foresee market conditions “without major changes” in the following months in a complex global scenario. Steel prices are seen stable with fluctuations not exceeding €5-10/tonne ($5.3-10.6/t), Kallanish hears during Friday’s EUROMETAL Iberia Steel Net Forum in Santiago de Compostela.
The new economic reality is seen requiring new solutions from both producers and the distribution chain. The sector says some old concerns remain, while it faces a challenging scenario.
“There is no big change in demand in the Iberian Peninsula since mid-2023,” comments Andrés Barceló, general director of the steelmakers association Unesid. “This is attributable to the EU economic crisis, and the conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East. Inflation is also concerning.”
The executive confirms that the region has enough capacity to supply the market although steel production fell in 2023. The Spanish steel industry faced persistent challenges due to high energy prices and growing imports from non-EU countries, Barcelo observed.
According to the Spanish distributors association Unión de Almacenistas de Hierros de España (UAHE) president Roberto González, stocking in Iberia remains at a stable and healthy level, despite weak demand. He considers that by having undertaken an innovation process, companies in the sector are improving their services.
“Value is being added to the distribution chain because the market demands it. Digitalisation improves the sustainability and profitability of services,” he says. “Good management by companies in the face of the challenging economic panorama does not consist only of selling steel, but also of supplying better and innovative services to customers.”
Sustainability and a good image of the distribution chain must be an additional argument to grow the relationship with customers, points out Manuel Nobre, president of the Portuguese steel distributor association Açomefer.
“Our chain is an essential and fundamental link that completes the steel industry. We have problems with the image. Society should not take us as mercantilists or speculators, dismissing the efforts of our companies. We have to communicate and value customers. It may sound somewhat theoretical, but to clean up the image we need to better promote what we do within the industrial chain, with added value, so that the client understands it better,” Nobre comments.
A representative from a service centre expresses concern that if distributors do not uniformly maintain sales margins, investments and technology improvement will be in vain.
“Efforts in maintaining margins should be a priority for all distributors, as they are for steelmakers,” he comments. “The end user must understand that our service has a cost, which has been constantly increasing in recent years. The diversification of services together with a good pricing policy can guarantee our margins.”
The participants agree that attracting young specialists to the steel industry should be a priority since the sector does not seem as attractive to work in as others.
“We hope that technological innovations and the development of renewable energy sources for steel manufacturing will bring more and better-qualified workforce in next years, but to happen this the industrial chain must improve the business environment,” urges Arimany Ferro executive Josep Arimany.
Todor Kirkov Bulgaria
