In the third quarter of 2012, order bookings in the German machine tool industry fell by four percent year on year, according to the German Machine Tool Builders' Association (VDW). Given the dominance of the German industry in the mechanical engineering sector, data released by the VDW are seen as a barometer for general business conditions in the EU.
Domestic orders in the German machine tool industry in the third quarter this year decreased 12 percent, while export orders remained stable, both compared to the same quarter of 2011. In the first nine months of this year, Germany's order bookings fell by 11 percent compared to the equivalent period of 2011. Domestic orders in this period were down by eight percent and export orders fell by 12 percent, both on year-on-year basis.
"The fall in demand over the course of the year has so far proceeded in line with expectations," said Dr. Wilfried Schäfer, executive director of the sectoral organisation at the VDW. In the first three quarters, order levels from the Americas rose, driven primarily by the US. There is substantial investment ongoing in the US, not least from the automotive industry and the aviation sector. In China, the largest of the markets, demand has cooled down temporarily. Only eastern Europe, and also Russia, are still offering some rays of hope.
German domestic orders, conversely, were until the middle of the year performing better than their export counterparts, fuelled primarily by project business involving press technology. Demand in Germany has held up significantly better so far than in other European nations.
Meanwhile, machine tool production output in Germany, according to the official figures provisionally announced, rose by another 12 percent during the year's first nine months.