According to the German Engineering Federation (VDMA), in the third quarter of this year order bookings in the German machine tool industry rose 29 percent compared to the same period of last year, with domestic orders 33 percent higher, while foreign demand was up 27 percent, both compared to Q3 2010. Meanwhile, in the first nine months of this year overall demand for German machinery and tools showed an increase of 74 percent year on year, with domestic demand rising 71 percent and foreign demand up 76 percent.
"The increase in order bookings for the ongoing year continues to be excellent," confirmed Dr. Wilfried Schäfer, executive director at the VDW (German Machine Tool Builders' Association). Nonetheless, he added, the growth dynamic is slowly decelerating on a quarterly comparison. Following months of two-to three-figure growth rates, he continued, a normalization trend had been foreseeable.
Meanwhile, the official production result for Germany's machine tool industry, according to the provisional figures, rose by 36 percent in the first nine months of the current year. The VDW, said Schäfer, is now predicting production output to grow by one-third for 2011.