German machine tool orders rising again

Domestic orders were up by 12 per cent, while orders from abroad were up by 6 per cent on the preceding year’s figure. For the first nine months of 2013, there was an overall drop of 6 per cent: domestic orders fell by a tenth, and orders from abroad by 4 per cent.

“Demand for machine tools has achieved the long-awaited turnaround”, comments Dr. Wilfried Sch?fer, Executive Director of the sectoral organisation VDW (German Machine Tool Builders’ Association) in Frankfurt am Main. The two months of August and September, in particular, saw double-digit growth. This applies to both domestic and export orders, and to the two technology segments involved, metal-cutting and forming machine tools. Wilfried Sch?fer sees this as reflecting not least a boost from the EMO Hannover 2013, the world’s premier trade fair for the metalworking sector, which was held from 16 to 21 September.

For the year as a whole, however, so far it’s substantial orders for forming technology that have been driving the German manufacturers’ business forward. They were up by 61 per cent in the year’s third quarter, and by 27 per cent over the year as a whole.

China, the largest market, continues to give cause for concern. Demand was still falling significantly in the year’s first half. “The new Chinese government is rigorously reviewing the entire investment programme of the ongoing five-year plan”, explains Wilfried Sch?fer. Before this process has been completed, he added, a substantial recovery in demand cannot be anticipated. Contrary to expectations, however, Western Europe has been doing better than anticipated. Order bookings in Central and South America have also shown double-figure growth. In Asia, the figures are up in South Korea and the South-East Asian countries.

“In view of the improving order situation, the VDW’s current production output forecast for the ongoing year is not at risk”, said Wilfried Sch?fer in conclusion. It is predicting consolidation at the preceding year’s high level.