German industrial production falls 0.4% in March as producers lack new orders
Stefan Baumgarten
08-May-2024
LONDON (ICIS)–German industrial production fell 0.4% in March month on month, but output from the chemical-pharmaceuticals sector rose slightly according to statistical data released on Wednesday.
Bundesbank, chem-pharma production order volume index (2021=100):
March 2024 | February 2024 | March 2023 | Q1 2024 | Q4 2023 | Q1 2023 |
92.6 | 91.6 | 85.7 | 90.1 | 84.6 | 86.3 |
Production in the energy-intensive industries, which includes chemicals, remained flat month on month in March but rose 4.8% in Q1 2024 from Q4 2023.
In the automotive industry, which is an important end market for chemicals, March production rose 0.6% from February.
March 2024 production | +/- change from February |
Total output from industry, construction and energy | -0.4% |
Industrial production | -0.4% |
-Intermediate goods | -0.6% |
-Capital goods | 0.1% |
-Consumer goods | -1.4% |
Energy | -4.2% |
Construction | 1.0% |
(source: Statistisches Bundesamt, Wiesbaden)
Industrial production was down 3.4% from March 2023 while total production from industry, construction and energy was down 3.3%.
LACK OF ORDERS
According
to a survey by the Munich-based research group
ifo on Wednesday, a shortage of new
manufacturing orders worsened in April, slowing
the overall economy.
In manufacturing, 39.5% of companies reported a lack of orders, up from 36.9% in ifo’s January survey.
In the chemical industry the share of companies reporting a lack of orders was 46.6% in April.
In related news, a labor union has threatened “massive” strikes in the building and construction sectors after a failure to reach a new collective agreement with their employers.
Along with the auto sector, building and construction are important end markets for the chemicals industry.
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