WIESBADEN (dpa-AFX) – German industry received significantly fewer orders in February than in the previous month. Compared to January, orders fell by 2.2 percent, as the Federal Statistical Office announced on Wednesday in Wiesbaden. Most analysts had expected a decline, but by just 0.2 percent.
The setback follows a significant increase in January, which was even stronger than previously known. In addition, the statisticians refer to the high order backlog, which has normalized somewhat with the current decline. The background is the corona-related shortage of primary products, which is likely to increase with the Ukraine war. As a result, many companies have problems processing incoming orders at all.
The weakness in demand in February came mainly from abroad. From there, 3.3 percent fewer orders were received than in the previous month. Significantly fewer orders came both from outside the euro zone and from the currency area itself. Domestic orders fell only slightly by 0.2 percent.
February’s weakness was widespread in terms of product groups: capital goods were ordered 2.8 percent fewer than in the previous month, orders for intermediate goods fell by 1.9 percent. Consumer goods, on the other hand, were in somewhat stronger demand than in the previous month.
Thomas Gitzel, chief economist at VP Bank, rated the drop in orders as a slip. Like the Federal Office, he referred to the high order backlog. “German industry can easily get over the drop in orders in February.” In any case, well-filled order books are no guarantee for a good economy. “As long as there is a lack of raw materials and preliminary products, incoming orders will become more and more of no practical relevance.”/bgf/eas