German steel stockholders’ sales remain stable in 2024
Germany’s stockholding distributors sold a slightly higher tonnage of steel products in 2024 than a year earlier, according to figures from their federation, BDS.
At 9.435 million tonnes, the volume was fractionally up on 9.434mt in 2023. Monthly volumes appear to have been distributed more evenly in 2024 than 2023. In 2023, March sales of 994,000t were, for example, nearly 190,000t above April’s. December was typically the slowest month in both years, with just over 460,000t sold in each year, Kallanish notes.
Both main product categories, longs and flats, lost tonnages somewhat from 2023 to 2024, while “other products” gained. Long products sales in 2024 totalled 2.828mt and flat products came to 5.766mt.
By contrast, “other products” rose by around 140,000t to 841,000t in 2024. This category encompasses wire rod and other products that are not particularly defined in the statistics.
Christian Koehl Germany
German monthly steel sales rebound from Dec slump
Monthly German steel sales reached 814,862 mt in January, down 0.9% year over year but rebounding 76.3% month over month, data from the German steel stockholders’ association BDS showed Feb. 21.
The month-over-month gain was fuelled primarily by sales of the flat steel product category which increased 80.8% from December to 508,120 mt. Despite the monthly bounce, flat steel sales were 5.1% lower year over year.
Monthly sales of long products were reported at 228,249, up 67.6% monthly and 11.9% year over year.
Other products followed a similar trajectory, increasing 76.3% monthly and 14% year over year to 78,493 mt.
Market participants surveyed by Platts point toward recent news surrounding US tariffs, and upcoming elections in Germany as increasingly bullish factors in the market. Some sources also cited stable fundamentals, arguing that demand drivers have not shifted significantly in recent weeks.
Platts assessed the Northwest European domestic HRC price at Eur605/mt ex-works Ruhr, Feb. 20, stable day over day and up Eur5/mt week over week.
Meanwhile, German steel product stocks totaled 1.895 million mt in January, rising 6.4% year over year and down 0.6% from December.
Flat products made up 63.8% of the total inventories in January at 1.209 million mt, which was 1.1% lower year over year but 8.8% higher month over month.
Long products stocks totaled 651,346 mt in January, or 34.4% of the total inventory, increasing 0.8% year over year and 2% from December.
BDS: German steel sales slump, stocks hit 3-year low as of Dec 2024
German total steel sales product fell 0.59% year over year in December 2024 to 462,264 mt, and down by 40.64% month over month, data from German steel stockholders’ association BDS showed on Jan. 22.
- Total steel sales in Dec 2024 drop 0.59% YOY to 462,264 mt
- Total steel stocks in Dec 2024 decline 3.96%YOY to 1.78 million mt
Last month, sales of the flat steel product category nearly halved to 281,045, down 40.23% from November and 3.05% from the same period in 2023, respectively.
Long sales also dropped to 136,204 mt, down from 143,297 mt in December 2023 and compared to 238,850 mt in November 2023, the data showed.
Other products stood at 45,015 mt in December 2024, down 40.9% year over year and 35.39% month over month.
The BDS data also showed that steel stocks in Germany went down year year over year and month month over month. Total German steel stocks products totalled 1.78 million mt in December 2024, slipping 3.96% compared to the same month of 2023 and down 1.54% from November 2024 to the lowest level since records started in January 2020.
Flat products decreased by 4.64% to 1.11 million mt in December, year over year, and by 2.77% month over month, respectively.
Long products stocks totaled 638,548 mt in December, down 2.10% year over year but up 0.95% month over month. The rest of the stocks under “Others” stood at 30,762 mt in December, down 6.42% compared to December 2023 and down 1.54% relative to November.
In December hot-rolled coil prices in Northern Europe moved sideways from Eur560/mt base ex-works Ruhr to Eur 560/mt ex-works Ruhr on Dec. 30, with prices that moved down by around Eur130/mt in 2024. Platts, part of S&P Global Commodity Insights, assessed hot-rolled coil in Northwest Europe at Eur580/mt ex-works Ruhr Jan.21, stable day over day
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.