New orders in Germany's manufacturing industry down by almost 26 pct in April

Source: Xinhua | 2020-06-06

Price, seasonally and calendar adjusted new orders in Germany's manufacturing industry dropped by 25.8 percent in April compared to the previous month, the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis) announced on Friday.

At the same time, domestic orders decreased by 22.3 percent while international orders even fell by 28.1 percent, according to the provisional figures by Destatis.

The significant drop in new orders due to the coronavirus pandemic was "the largest decline since the beginning of the time series in January 1991," Destatis noted. In March, orders had fallen "markedly" by 15 percent compared to the previous month.

Although most of Germany's major sales markets had been affected by COVID-19 restrictions, Germany's Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy (BMWi) noted that "the low point of the industrial recession should now be passed."

New orders of consumer goods only fell 11.4 percent in April while manufacturers of capital goods such as machinery and equipment recorded the largest drop in new orders of 30.6 percent with turnover decreasing 22.8 percent, according to Destatis.

According to a business survey published by the ifo Institute on Friday, Germany's manufacturing industry was "massively cutting back on investments," with 64 percent of manufacturing companies postponing projects in May.

"The coronavirus crisis is having drastic consequences for investment by companies in Germany," ifo Institute noted.