September 07, 2008

Steel orders in Germany decline due to inventory build up

German Steel Federation citing customer stockpiling reported that rolled steel deliveries and orders has declined in the April to June 2007 quarter as compared with the April to June 2006 quarter.

Incoming order has decreased by about 10% to 10.054 million tonnes in the April to June 2007 quarter and orders on hand had dropped to 10.873 million tonnes in the April to June 2007 quarter from 11.941 million tonnes in the April to June 2006. Besides, both domestic and foreign orders have declined affecting both flat steel and long products.

German Steel Federation said that crude steel output has risen by 4.5% YoY in the January to July 2007 while, in the April to June 2007 quarter, supplies of rolled steel fell slightly to 10.638 million tonnes from 10.655 million tonnes in the April to June 2006.