Steel sales in Germany fell to a 10-month low in October

The volume of finished steel sales in Germany in October 2022 decreased by 14% compared to the same month last year – to 743.7 thousand tons. Thus, the indicator reached a 10-month low. Eurometal reports about it.

Sales of long products, used mainly for construction, decreased by 14% y/y – to 230.81 thousand tons, while flat products (automotive) decreased by 8.6% – to 467.22 thousand tons.

“October sales in all categories of steel products were lower than the average sales recorded in Q3 this year. The fall coincided with a weak outlook for the steel market towards the end of the year amid expectations of a decline in German GDP in the fourth quarter”, the message says.

In October, steel inventories in Germany also decreased by 1% compared to October 2021 – to 2.16 million tons. At the same time, stocks of long products increased by 1.6% y/y – to 792.81 thousand tons , and stocks of flat products decreased by 1.2% y/y – to 1.33 million tons.

The German purchasing managers’ index (PMI) rose by 1.3 points in November to a three-month high of 46.4, while the manufacturing PMI rose by 1.6 points – to 46.7. Manufacturing companies are reporting that capacity is resuming as supply disruptions are being addressed.

At the same time, the current economic conditions in Germany, by contrast, fell to their lowest level since February 2021. This confirms that the country’s GDP will fall in the fourth quarter, although the recession may be more moderate than expected.

“While the industry is more confident in the absence of gas rationing in the winter, uncertainty in energy-intensive industries continues to be high,” USB analysts said.

As GMK Center reported earlier, German steel enterprises in October 2022 reduced steel production by 14.4% compared to the same month of 2021 – to 3.14 million tons. In January-October 2022, the indicator decreased by 6.9% y/y – to 31.39 million tons.

WorldSteel expects cuts of world steel consumption in 2022 by 2.3% compared to 2021 – to 1.796 billion tons. In 2023, steel demand is expected to increase slightly thanks to the infrastructure industry by 1.0% –  to 1.814 billion tons.

Germany is one of the ten largest steel producers in the world. In 2021, the country increased output of steel by 12.3% compared to 2020 – up to 40.1 million tons, ranking 8th in the world ranking of producers.