German mechanical engineering companies believe that orders have bottomed out. For the first time in months, more orders are being received.
Germany’s mechanical engineering companies have achieved an increase in orders for the first time in a year and a half. In April, the value of orders increased by 10 percent compared to the same month last year, adjusted for price increases (in real terms), as the mechanical engineering association VDMA announced in Frankfurt.
Although this year’s April had three more working days than the same month last year, which was also weak, “we are nevertheless confirmed in our assumption that the low point in incoming orders has been reached,” said VDMA chief economist Ralph Wiechers.
In April of the current year, there were 3 percent more orders from domestic companies and 13 percent more orders from abroad than a year earlier. In the three-month period from February to April 2024, however, the export-oriented industrial sector recorded a real decline in orders of 9 percent compared to the same period last year.
The medium-sized mechanical engineering sector with more than one million employees had already felt the weakness of the global economy and the economic downturn at home in 2023. The industry association expects production to fall by 4 percent this year.
Source: Stern
