This was announced by the VDW (German Machine Tool Builders' Association) at its annual press conference in Frankfurt. "Production in 2019 can still benefit from the previous year's good performance. The existing order volume will only be realized in phases in the current year," says Prokop.

The British economic research institute Oxford Economics also expects investments by the most important customer industries in Germany to rise by 4% and machine tool consumption to increase by 3%.

The positive factors are offset by the slowdown in orders. After growing by a moderate 1% in 2019, they fell slightly by 2 percentage points. After strong growth, the domestic market in particular is losing ground at minus 3%.

Orders from abroad, on the other hand, are expected to remain at the same level in 2019. America remains the clear growth driver. According to the VDW's own survey, US demand has already seen a double-digit increase in the first three quarters of 2018, fueled by spending programs, tax cuts and improved depreciation options in the USA.

Orders from China, South Korea and Taiwan declined. However, Japan and the Asean region were strong performers. Europe, on the other hand, turned slightly negative at 2% in 2019 after a strong increase in demand over the past three years. Until 2018, the euro countries in particular had proved to be a rock in the surf with a 9% increase.

China and the USA remain the top markets by a wide margin

Exports account for around 70 percent of the machine tool business. It increased by 3 percent in 2018. Despite the economic slowdown, China remains by far the most important market for German manufacturers. With growth of 5 percent in the first eleven months of 2018, the country accounts for 22 percent of German exports, followed by the USA with a share of around 13 percent and growth of 7 percent.

The good economic situation in the German machine tool industry is also reflected in employment. At the end of 2018, 75,000 employees worked in the industry. That was a good 4 percent more than in the previous year.

In the fourth quarter of 2018, incoming orders in the German machine tool industry fell by 13% compared to the same period of the previous year. Domestic orders fell by 28%. Foreign orders fell by 4%. For 2018, an overall increase of 1 percent applies. Domestic orders climbed by 5%, while orders from abroad remained at the previous year's level.

Nevertheless, the global turbulence, from trade conflicts and market isolationism to Brexit and the dismantling of many arms control agreements, is now also causing uncertainty among investors. There were already signs in the third quarter of 2018 that orders were losing momentum.