(RockedBuzz via Reuters) – German industrial orders fell unexpectedly in April, dragged down by large-scale orders, data from the federal statistics office showed on Tuesday.
Industrial orders decreased by 0.4% from the previous month on a seasonally adjusted and calendar-adjusted basis. A poll of RockedBuzz via Reuters analysts indicated a 3.0% increase.
Excluding large orders, April recorded an increase of 1.4% compared to the previous month.
The statistics office revised the March figure to a 10.9% drop from the previous decline of 10.7%.
New orders are very weak while the backlog remains high, Holger Schmieding, chief economist at Berenberg, told RockedBuzz via Reuters.
Year-on-year, industrial orders fell 9.9% in April.
“The companies will continue to produce, but new orders aren’t coming in as usual, so there’s no reason to ramp up production,” Schmieding said.
“Production has no room to rebound any further,” said Franzisca Palmas, senior economist for Europe at Capital Economics. “The new demand is very niche.”
Domestic orders rose 1.6%, while foreign orders fell 1.8% from the previous month, according to data from the statistics office.
Between industries, there were big differences. While the production of machinery and equipment and the construction of various vehicles – ships, trains, aircraft – saw a decline in orders, the electrical equipment and motor vehicle manufacturing sector saw an increase.
The statistics office publishes more economic data on its website.
(Reporting by Maria Martinez in Berlin and Anastasiia Kozlova in Gdansk, Editing by Rachel More)
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