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
