Production in the mechanical engineering industry in the
European Union grew by 3.9 percent year on year in the first quarter of 2012. The output growth was basically due to strong bookings in 2011, said the European Confederation of Iron and Steel Industries (EUROFER) in its third quarter report of its ‘Economic and Steel Market Outlook 2012-2013'.
Nevertheless, EUROFER stated that since several months orders have been under pressure due to the investment climate being affected by weaker industrial confidence, financing and credit restrictions, downstream customers facing solvency problems and overall high risk and uncertainty levels. The latest data from the German mechanical engineering association VDMA signal that the year-on-year change in total orders remained negative in April. However, orders from outside the EU appear to have turned the corner and are on a moderately upward trend for several months now.
The confederation's first estimates for the second quarter of the current year were that activity in the EU mechanical engineering industry indicates a slight year-on-year decline, while the output in the second half of 2012 is foreseen to fall slightly compared with the same period of 2011. EUROFER has predicted that the business climate in the mechanical engineering industry in the EU and abroad will improve again and that activity in the industry in the EU will rise by around 2.5 percent in 2013.