Germany floods disrupt steel transport; Thyssenkrupp declares force majeure

Shipments and distribution of steel in Germany have been disrupted by the recent flooding in the country, pushing flat steel producer Thyssenkrupp to declare force majeure, sources told Fastmarkets on Tuesday July 20.

The situation was likely to worsen the carbon steel shortage in the European market, participants believed. Over the past year, the supply of both flat and long steel products has been tight in the wake of production cuts made during Covid-19 lockdowns, plus trade restriction measures and technical issues at some domestic mills.
Production in Germany
Several market sources said that Thyssenkrupp has notified its customers that it had to declare force majeure because it was not able to ship feedstock steel products between the company's sites.
"Last Friday [July 16] the board of Thyssenkrupp made a written declaration of force majeure due to the flooding in some areas of Germany," a German distributor said.
"[Thyssenkrupp] claims that it has logistic problems, particularly with feedstock for hot-dipped galvanized coil production. [There are] no production problems but supply logistics issues," another distributor said.

Thyssenkrupp confirmed this and also noted that...

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