In the second quarter of the current year, mechanical engineering production growth in the European Union turned negative for the first time since a two-year period of rather robust expansion in output, said the European Steel Association (EUROFER) in the fourth quarter report of its ‘Economic and Steel Market Outlook 2012-2013'.
Accordingly, in the second quarter this year activity in the EU mechanical engineering sector fell almost 1.5 percent compared to the second quarter of the previous year, with only the UK, Germany and central European countries managing to post a slight growth in the second quarter output.
EUROFER's first estimates for the remainder of this year and the first half of 2013 are quite bleak. Some recovery is forecast for the second half of 2013, rather owing to a pick-up in export demand than improving demand conditions in the EU. EUROFER has predicted that, following a slight drop in 2012, EU mechanical engineering activity is expected to rise by around one percent year on year in 2013.