Industry reports a significant increase in orders for May.
(Photo: dpa)
Berlin In May, German industry recorded the strongest increase in orders for almost three years. The orders increased by 6.4 percent compared to the previous month, as announced by the Federal Statistical Office on Thursday. That was the biggest plus since June 2020.
Economists surveyed by the Reuters news agency had expected an increase, but only by 1.2 percent. In April, new business grew by just 0.2 percent, but fell by 10.9 percent in March.
“All in all, the recently fluctuating orders are stabilizing,” emphasized the Federal Ministry of Economics. The less fluctuating three-month comparison shows how difficult the situation remains despite the unexpectedly good performance: Here, orders from March to May were 6.1 percent lower than in the three months before.
Domestic orders in May rose 6.2 percent mom, while overseas demand rose 6.4 percent. The vehicle industry had a particularly positive influence with an increase of 8.6 percent and other vehicle construction with an increase of 137.1 percent. The latter includes the construction of ships, rail vehicles, aircraft and spacecraft, and military vehicles.
The export-dependent industry is having a hard time with the rise in interest rates around the world, which the central banks are using to fight inflation. This makes loans for German export hits such as vehicles and machines more expensive, which in turn puts pressure on demand. In addition, almost every third German industrial company complains about material shortages. In June, 31.9 percent reported bottlenecks in preliminary products and raw materials, after 35.3 percent in May, as reported by the Munich Ifo Institute.
“Unfortunately, the relaxation can hardly do anything to counteract the downturn in industry,” said Klaus Wohlrabe, head of the Ifo surveys. “Orders can be processed faster, but too few new ones are coming in at the moment.”
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