BDS: German October steel sales rise 7.4% y-o-y
German steel product sales in October climbed 7.4% year over year to 838,042 mt, data from German steel stockholders’ association BDS showed Nov. 29.
Sales were also up and 6.7% month over month.
The majority, or 61.1%, of the sales were from the flat product category at 511,858 mt, rising 6.5% year over year and 10.7% month over month, while long sales rose 5.2% year over year and 1.8% month over month to 250,255 mt, the data showed.
January-October overall sales totaled 8.2 million mt, 0.6% higher year over year. Flat sales were down 2.5% at 5 million mt, and long sales were up 2.5% at 2.4 million mt.
Platts, part of S&P Global Commodity Insights, assessed domestic HRC prices in Northern Europe at Eur550/mt ex-works Ruhr Nov. 28, down 20% since the start of 2024.
Meanwhile, stocks of German steel products totaled 1.9 million mt in October, slipping 2.9% year over year, but up 0.6% month over month, the BDS data showed.
Flat products made up 65.8% of total inventories in October at 1.3 million mt, which was 1.6% lower year over year and down. 0.7% month over month.
Long products stocks totaled 621,608 mt in October, or 32.4% of the total inventory, dropping 4.9% year over year, but up 3.4% from September.
German stockholders’ sales bottom out in Q3
Germany’s stockholding distributors sold a combined 7.356 million tonnes of steel products in the first nine months of the year, around 10,000t less than in the corresponding 2023 period.
The decline has narrowed since mid-year, when it was still 100,000t versus the first half of 2023, Kallanish learns from German distributors’ association Bundesverband Deutscher Stahlhandel (BDS).
The nine-month average sales volume per month was 812,000t, marking a slight but continuous drop from the first two quarters, at 823,00t and 816,000t, respectively. However, it was higher than the third quarter one year ago, when sales averaged 783,000t.
Split by product group, the average monthly sales of flat products shows a declining trend, at 484,000t in Q3, following 522,000t in Q1 and 495,000t in Q2. Long products actually rose, at 252,000t in Q3, after 233,000t in Q1 and 250,000t in Q2. BDS provides no interpretation for the figures.
A slight increase in sections/beams towards Q3 can be explained by production shortages that triggered a buying rush. However, the increase is even more pronounced for rebar, despite the continued lull in construction.
Still, sales figures are altogether weaker in comparison with 2022, when long products sold 265,000t on average per month.
Miscellaneous other products, such as wire rod, accounted for 78,000 t/month, after 71,000t in Q2.
A comparison of the last month of the respective periods shows that total sales in September 2024 were slightly stronger than 2023, at 812,000t versus 779,000t respectively. Looking further back, September 2022 was again stronger, at 856,000t sold.
In terms of inventory tonnage, the monthly average in Q3 was 1.927mt, slightly down y-o-y, with Q3 2023 at 1.961mt.
Until the end of 2022, monthly average inventory was above 2.18mt, with all months normally above the 2mt mark. Since early 2023, only three months, July 2023, February 2024 and April 2024, have eclipsed that mark, by some 1,000t.
Christian Koehl Germany
Germany: September steel product sales edge up 0.8% on year
German steel product sales edged up 0.8% year on year in September to 785,553 mt, which was down 2% month on month, data from German steel stockholders’ association Bundesverband Deutscher Stahlhandel (BDS) showed Oct. 24.
The majority, or 58.9%, of the sales, were from the flat product category at 462,555 mt, down 6.1% year on year and falling 5.1% month on month, while long sales rose 9% on the year and 2.9% month on month to 245,945 mt, the data showed.
January-September sales totaled 7.4 million mt, just 0.1% lower on the year, with flat sales down 3.4% to 4.5 million mt and long sales up 2.2% to 2.2 million mt.
Platts, part of S&P Global Commodity Insights, assessed domestic HRC prices in Northern Europe at Eur555/mt ex-works Ruhr Oct. 23, down 20% since the start of 2024.
Meanwhile, stocks of German steel products totaled 1.9 million mt in September, slipping 0.5% year on year and down 0.5% month on month, the BDS data showed.
Flat products made up 66.6% of total inventories in September at 1.3 million mt, which was 1.8% higher on the year and up 0.8% on the month.
Long products stocks totaled 600,974 mt in September, or 31.5% of the total inventory, dropping 5.1% year on year and down 2.9% from August.
German distributors’ sales fall slightly in first half
Germany’s stockholding distributors sold a combined 5.016 million tonnes of steel products in the first half of the year, around 100,000t less than in H1 2023.
The first two quarters did not differ much, with 2.469mt sold in Q1 and 2.448mt in Q2, Kallanish learns from distributors’ association Bundesverband Deutscher Stahlhandel (BDS).
The average sales volume per month was 816,000t. Split by product group, long products on average accounted for 250,000 t/month and flat products for 495,000t. Miscellaneous other products, such as wire rod, accounted for 71,000t.
In a comparison of the last months of the respective periods, June 2024 was virtually equal to June 2023, with both registering around 830,000t of sales. BDS provides no interpretation of whether this could mean that stockholders’ activity has now more or less synchronised with last year. In March, the difference was still more pronounced – 817,000t this year versus 994,000t in March 2023.
In terms of inventory tonnage, the monthly average was 1.964mt in Q1 and 1.948mt in Q2. Inventories of long products in the second quarter were 637,000t, flat products totalled 1.267mt, and miscellaneous products 44,000t.
Until the end of 2022, the monthly average inventory was above 2.18mt, with all months normally above the 2mt mark. Since early 2023, only three months, July 2023, February 2024 and April 2024 eclipsed that mark, by some 1,000t.
Germany: May steel sales, stocks decline on year amid economic slowdown
German steel sales in May fell year on year and month on month, as demand remained low amid an economic slowdown, according to data from sales and stockholder association BDS.
Steel product sales in the German distribution and stockholding system in May totaled 770,914 mt, down 4% year on year and down 8.9% from April.
Sales of flat products totaled 469,922 mt in May, down 6.5% year on year and 8.6% lower from April. Sales of long products totaled 238,557 mt in May, falling 0.3% year on year and 7.4% month on month.
Sales of all other products totaled 62,435 mt in May, up 2.2% year on year but 16.4% lower than April.
Steel product stocks fall
Stocks of all steel products in the German stockholding and distribution segment in May totaled about 1.92 million mt, down 3.7% year on year and 5% month on month.
Flat stocks last month totaled 1.24 million, up 2.3% year on year but down 5.3% from April.
Stocks of long products in May fell 13.2% year on year and 4.2% month on month to 633,138 mt.
Stocks of other products totaled 42,589 mt, down 9.7% year on year and 7.4% month on month.
In a broader context, Germany has the largest steel production in Europe, at 35.4 million mt in 2023. Recent data has showed the German market is weak; in May output declined for the first time this year, falling 1.9% year on year to 3.2 million mt, according to data published June 20 by German steel federation WV Stahl.
In the January-May period, Germany produced around 16.2 million mt of liquid steel, up 3.7% compared with the same year-ago period.
Platts, part of S&P Global Commodity Insights, assessed Northwest Europe hot rolled coil prices at Eur630/mt ($674.45/mt) base ex-works Ruhr June 25, down Eur5 on the day.
German steel product sales and stocks dip amid manufacturing slowdown
Steel product sales in the German distribution and stockholding system totaled 776,079 mt in July, down 0.7% from a year earlier, German steel stockholders’ association BDS reported Aug. 22
The July total was down 6.5% from the 829,612 mt sold in June, as the slowdown in German industrial production and weak demand weighed on the market.
Germany’s industrial output fell for a second consecutive month in June, with a drop of 1.5% on a monthly basis, worsening from the previous month’s dip of 0.1%.
Within the overall sales figures, monthly sales of long products totaled 244,917 mt, down 6.4% year on year and little changed from the prior month. Monthly sales of flat products were reported at 476,850 mt, up 3.9% on the year but down 9.1% on the month.
Weaker demand from stockists was also evident in the monthly steel inventories which fell 11.8% on the year to 2 million mt. Stocks of long products were reported at 684,005 mt, down 14.3% on the year and 2.1% lower on the month, while those of flat products were reported at 1.29 million mt, down 10.7% on the year but up 5.9% on the month.
Platts, part of S&P Global Commodity Insights, assessed domestic hot-rolled coil prices in Northern Europe at Eur635/mt ex-works Ruhr Aug. 21, down 35% since March 30.
Author: Euan Sadden
