While machine and car makers produced more, consumer goods manufacturers reported less production.
(Photo: dpa)
Wiesbaden German companies increased their production in November in the face of a thick backlog of orders and dwindling material bottlenecks. Industry, construction and energy suppliers together produced 0.2 percent more than in the previous month, as the Federal Statistical Office announced on Monday. Economists surveyed by Reuters had expected mini-growth of 0.1 percent after production had fallen by a revised 0.4 percent (previously: 0.1 percent) in October.
“Industrial production stabilized in November after a weak start to the fourth quarter,” announced the Federal Ministry of Economics. “In the coming months, slowly disappearing material bottlenecks could further support the industrial economy.”
Economists take a similar view. “Industrial production has so far defied all problems because the easing material bottlenecks allow companies to work off the very high order backlog,” said Commerzbank chief economist Jörg Krämer. “But in the long run, industrial production cannot detach itself from the incoming orders, which have been falling since the spring.” Rising interest rates around the world would speak for a slight recession in the first half of the year.
Industry alone produced 0.5 percent more in November than in the previous month. The producers of capital goods such as cars and machines increased their output by 0.7 percent. In the case of consumer goods, on the other hand, it fell by 1.5 percent and for intermediate goods it grew by 1.1 percent.
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The construction industry reported a decline of 2.2 percent. Energy suppliers increased their generation by 3.0 percent.
Export-dependent industry reports declining orders
The export-dependent industry has recently suffered the sharpest drop in orders in more than a year due to the weakening global economy: Orders in November were 5.3 percent lower than in the previous month. A lack of large orders contributed to this, because many companies are reluctant to make larger expenditures due to rising interest costs, the risk of recession, high energy costs and geopolitical uncertainties such as the Russian war against Ukraine.
Complaints in the industry about missing materials, on the other hand, decreased for the third month in a row in December: 50.7 percent of companies were still suffering from this, after 59.3 percent in November, as the Ifo Institute found out.
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