BERLIN -German industrial orders grew slightly in May, beating expectations and reversing a trend after three consecutive months of decline due to the war in Ukraine, data showed on Wednesday.
Orders for industrial goods increased by 0.1% on the month in seasonally adjusted terms after an upwardly revised decline of 1.8% in April, figures from the Federal Statistical Office showed.
A Reuters poll of analysts had pointed to a decrease of 0.6% on the month in May.
Despite the stabilization, the Economy Ministry did not see cause for optimism, citing continued uncertainty caused by the Ukraine war and the threat of a freeze in Russian gas supplies.
Foreign manufacturing orders grew 1.3% in May compared with the previous month, with new orders from the non-euro area up 3.7%. That contrasted with a slump in domestic orders of 1.5% and a fall in new euro-area orders of 2.4%.
The industry is not lacking orders, but rather preliminary products such as computer chips, Alexander Krueger, chief economist at Hauck Aufhaeuser Lampe private bank, said.
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“The situation is unlikely to improve until gas supplies are secured and supply disruptions ease,” he added.
According to the ifo institute, 75.7% of retailers reported not receiving all the goods they ordered in June, and many are bracing for supply problems to persist until the middle of 2023.
“Supply problems have become a chronic issue for retailers,” ifo economist Klaus Wohlrabe said.
(Reporting by Miranda Murray and Rene Wagner, editing by Kirsti Knolle and Andrew Heavens)
