According to the statistics released by France's National Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies (INSEE), in April this year France's new industrial orders received, excepting heavy tranport vehicles, increased 1.7 percent month on month. In March, new industrial orders were stable compared to February. Meanwhile, in April export orders increased by 2.8 percent as compared to the previous month.
In the first quarter of 2012, France's new orders increased 2.8 percent in the automobile industry, while an increase of 2.9 percent was recorded in the other manufacturing sectors, both compared to the previous quarter.
In April, industrial orders in the domestic metallurgical industry rose by 1.4 percent as compared to the previous month, while industrial orders in the manufacture of metal products except machinery decreased by 3.2 percent as compared to March.