BERLIN (Reuters) – German engineering companies’ orders stagnated in August as orders from abroad, particularly the euro zone, offset a dip in domestic orders, the VDMA engineering association said.
August orders were at the same level as the same month last year, with domestic orders down 6% while foreign orders saw a 2% increase, the VDMA said on Tuesday.
“This is more than respectable considering the never-ending bottlenecks, price increases and uncertainties,” said VDMA chief economist Ralph Wiechers.
Orders from the euro zone were especially strong in August, increasing 23%, while orders from outside the euro zone fell 5%, according to the VDMA.
In the three-month period from June to August, which was less affected by fluctuations, overall orders fell by 8%, with demand from Germany decreasing 11% and from abroad down 6%.
August CHANGE
overall 0% y/y
of which German -6% y/y
foreign +2% y/y
June-August
overall -8% y/y
of which German -11% y/y
foreign -6% y/y
(Reporting by Miranda Murray, editing by Rachel More)