Frankfurt am Main, Germany
- Order bookings in 1Q13 in Germany’s machine tool industry fell by 19%
compared to the equivalent quarter of 2012, said a German industry
association. Domestic orders were down by 21%, while international
orders dropped by 18%.
"Demand
for machine tools is still lacking momentum," comments Dr. Wilfried
Schäfer, executive director of the industry association VDW (German Machine Tool Builders’ Association) in
Frankfurt am Main. He said the weak start to the year signals a
perceptible degree of scepticism by mid-tier customers in Germany. Order
bookings in metal-cutting
applications, for instance, with a broadly diversified customer base,
remained 26% down from the preceding year’s figure. In forming
technology, by contrast, which is dominated by project business with the
automotive industry, orders are still running at the previous year’s
level.
Schäfer
also said that second half growth has to offset the first quarter
losses or the predicted 1% growth in production output is at risk.
Germany looks to expanding markets in Asia. In China, the largest market
for the German machine tool industry, faster economic growth is again
being forecast. North America, most recently a vital support for the
sector, will remain a stable market this year. And Russia, because of
its substantial need for modernization in its domestic industrial
sector, will continue to be an attractive customer.
There
is hope from the international automotive industry, which is deploying
strategic investments in the battle for market shares and from the
aircraft industry and the mechanical engineering sector. All of these
are expected to be making above-average capital investments in 2013. For
details contact s.becker@vdw.de
Correspondingly,
at the recent VDMA Laser Committee meeting held in Munich, it was
reported that worldwide sales of industrial laser systems in 2012 grew
9%, reaching a record value of EUR 7.9 billion.
With
reference to this global rate of growth and based on its own surveys,
the committee assumed that manufacturers who produce in Germany actively
participated in the expansion, despite uncertainty and dampened
investment tendencies in European "home markets." This applies
especially with regard to the potential of Central / East European
users, e.g., within the major automotive manufacturing locations in the region.
http://www.industrial-lasers.com/articles/2013/05/demand-for-machine-tools-lacks-momentum.html
