Figures for September: More orders for mechanical engineers

Frankfurt/Main. German mechanical and plant manufacturers received a significant increase in orders in September. Adjusted for price effects, orders were 14 percent higher than a year earlier, as the industry association VDMA announced. Significantly more orders were placed, especially from within Germany, with an increase of 22 percent than a year ago. Foreign orders grew by 11 percent.

The high overall increase is partly due to the extraordinarily weak month of the previous year: in September of the previous year, orders fell by 19 percent, according to the association.

This results in an increase in orders of 5 percent for the first nine months of the current year. New business in the euro area was weak, falling by 5 percent. Domestic sales stagnated, while 13 percent more orders came in from non-Euro countries.

“These orders encourage us to actually achieve the hoped-for production increase of 3 percent next year,” explained VDMA chief economist Johannes Gernandt. This year, however, the association expects a decline in production for the fourth year in a row.

Gernandt warned: “The current economic upswing is still a shaky little plant and must not be trampled on again by new burdens, such as excessive collective bargaining agreements.” This refers to the ongoing collective bargaining for the German metal and electrical industry, in which IG Metall is demanding 5 percent more wages and is currently organizing warning strikes. The negotiations on the employer side are carried out by Gesamtmetall and the regional metal associations, not the VDMA.