VDW
German machine tool industry on record course
In the third quarter of 2018, incoming orders in the German machine tool industry fell by 2% compared to the same period of the previous year. Domestic orders fell by 1%. Foreign orders fell by 2 percent. In the first nine months of the current year, orders rose by 7%. Domestic orders rose by 20 percent, while orders from abroad increased by 1 percent.
"Order intake and production reached a new record level in 2018," says Dr. Wilfried Schäfer, Executive Director of the VDW (German Machine Tool Builders' Association) in Frankfurt am Main. "Nevertheless, orders are down slightly for the first time in more than a year. The upswing is gradually coming to an end and demand is normalizing." On the one hand, the global economy is losing momentum. Accordingly, the markets outside the eurozone have slipped into negative territory. Secondly, the strong development in domestic demand in the second half of 2017 around EMO Hannover is now leading to negative rates in total order intake. Finally, global developments with the spread of trade conflicts, increasing protectionism, rising oil prices, high inflation in various emerging markets and unchecked debt are unsettling customers, especially small and medium-sized companies.
Employment and capacity utilization continue to soar
The number of employees remains at a record level of almost 73,700 in August of this year. Capacity was almost fully utilized at 95% in October 2018. A similar level of capacity utilization was last measured in July 2012. "Employee, capacity and material bottlenecks are still the most frequently cited challenges for companies," says Schäfer.
Finally, turnover rose by 13% in the first nine months according to the association's survey. "It will not be possible to continue this double-digit growth over the entire year because production skyrocketed at the end of 2017," explains Schäfer. However, the positive development has prompted the association to raise its production forecast by a further percentage point. The VDW now expects production to increase by 8 percent to a volume of over EUR 17 billion in 2018. However, Schäfer expressly points out that the industry economy and company developments are once again diverging more strongly. Machining technology, which boomed last year, is now growing much more slowly. Forming technology, on the other hand, is once again the driving force behind development, supported by project business.
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