German machinery manufacturing continues to improve

According to the German website of Reuters on September 1, the German machinery manufacturing industry will remain strong in the second half of 2010. Orders increased by 48% in July, with foreign orders increasing by 54% and domestic orders increasing by 38%. The less volatile three-month order statistics also showed that the industry recovered faster. From May to July, German machinery and equipment orders increased by 57% year-on-year, of which foreign orders increased by 60% and domestic orders increased by 51%.

According to Viechs, chief economist of the German Machinery and Equipment Manufacturing Association, the industry has experienced a V-shaped reversal since the summer of 2009 and is expected to achieve a 3% growth rate in 2010.

Machinery manufacturing is a traditional German competitive industry with 900,000 employees. Affected by the financial crisis, the output value of the industry in 2009 fell by a quarter to 151 billion euros.