German orders hit by uncertainties

In the second quarter of 2012, order bookings in Germany’s machine tool industry fell by 20% compared to April-June 2011. Domestic orders fell by 8%, while overseas orders were down 26% on the preceding year.

In the first six months of this year, order bookings fell by 13% compared to the equivalent period of 2011. Here, domestic orders were down by 6% on the preceding year, while export orders fell by 17%.

Wilfried Schäfer, executive director at Frankfurt-based VDW (the German Machine Tool Builders’ Association), said: “The months April to June have shown that the machine tool industry can not disengage from global macro-economic developments. However, the second quarter of 2011 saw the steepest rise in export orders during the entire year, so the comparatively high decrease in orders from abroad also reflects a base effect. For the year’s second half, the VDW expects orders from abroad to stabilise once more.”