Deliveries of steel sheet metal to EU consumers decreased by 1.1% in 6 months

In the first half of 2022, steel sheet metal deliveries by European service centers to end consumers decreased by 1.1% compared to the first half of 2021, after an increase of 0.1% per year in the January-May period.

SteelOrbis informs about it with the reference to a report published by the association of European steel and metal distributors Eurometal.

Stocks of rolled sheet in the EU, counted in days of shipments, were 79 days in June this year compared to 53 days in June 2021.

In the first half of the year, European distributors, selling many types of steel products, recorded lower shipments for all types of products. In January-June, total shipments declined by 12.8% year-on-year, after dropping by 11% year-on-year in the first five months of this year.

In June of this year, the stocks of all products, except rebar, steel plate and pipes, at distributors who sell many types of steel products, decreased by 2.3% compared to the previous month, while stocks of all products, except profiles and merchant bars, increased by 4.4%, compared to June 2021.

As GMK Center reported earlier, the Italian reroller company Marcegaglia considers, that steel prices are close to the minimum and expects a technical rebound of quotations by 8-10%, due to the slowly returning demand.

Also, steelmakers in many regions of the world stopped or reduced capacity due to falling demand for steel products. Steel companies are expecting an increase in demand and an increase in steel prices in the fall, after the end of the summer period of decline in business activity.