EU Steel Inventories Rise in Terms of Days of Sale

European Union steel inventories, in terms of days it takes to deplete the inventories, rose towards the end of the year due to weak sales activity, Eurometal, or the European Steel Service Center and Distribution association, said in a presentation on its Web site.

"Due to poor sales in December, Eurometal stock indicators are fatally further weakening by year end," Eurometal said.

The association hasn't yet released any December figures but November figures released last week show that sales activity dropped during that month compared with October. Eurometal has said in past that sales activity typically slows down in December due to the Christmas holiday period.

November sales of all E.U. steel products at stockists and distributors fell 7.1% compared with October and were still much lower than the sales index figure in the same month a year ago when the global economic downturn was already taking a bite out of steel demand.

The sales index was at about 68 in November compared with about 73 in October and nearly 76 in November 2008.

Meanwhile, E.U. steel inventories in terms of the number of days it take to deplete the inventories rose to nearly 77 days in November compared with about 71 in October. The November figure was much lower than the approximate 99 days in November of 2008, indicating that inventory levels have decreased from the same period a year ago.

The figures take into account how long it would take to deplete existing steel inventories given the current pace of business activity during a specific month.

Wednesday, January 13, 2010
Ferrous metals
Source: World scrap