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.