According to the last “ZVEI Business Cycle Report”, the German electrical and electronic industry has started the new year with an increase in orders by 2.2% (year over year) in January 2014. While foreign bookings rose by 5.8%, domestic orders missed their pre-year level by 1.6%. Eurozone customers ordered 0.6% less than a year ago. Bookings from third countries, however, picked up by 9.9%. In the full year 2013 the German E&E industry’s companies received 2.7% more new orders than in the previous year. This was due in particular to healthy demand from abroad which resulted 4.9% higher than in 2012. Once again this development was driven by an increase in bookings from third countries (plus 8.2%) while orders from the Euro area shrank by 0.6%. Domestic demand in 2013 grew only slightly by 0.3%.
Production – adjusted for price – of the German E&E industry’s firms went up by 2.2% (again year-on-year rate) in January 2014. It has now arrived at the level reached in July 2012. In the whole of last year the sector’s (revised) output was 2.6% down on its pre-year level. The companies’ production plans have been raised once again in February 2014. 23% of the firms plan to increase their output in the next three months to come, 67% want to maintain their current production level, whereas only 5% intend to curb it. The ZVEI reckons that the E&E industry’s real production in 2014 will pick up by 2% once again.
In January 2014 turnover in the German E&E industry expanded by 4.9% (yoy) and came to 13.5 billion €. Businesses with domestic and foreign customers rose by 3.5% onto 6.9 billion € and by 6.2% onto 6.6 billion €, respectively. Thereby, sales with Euro area clients picked up by 0.8% onto 2.4 billion €. Turnover in countries outside the Eurozone even soared by 9.8% and reached a volume of 4.2 billion €. This was the highest increase since April 2013. Over the full last year the sector’s revised turnover remained 2.1% below its pre-year level and amounted to 166.6 billion €. Domestic sales dropped by 4.2% onto 85.1 billion €. Foreign sales, in contrast, went up by 0.2% and came to 81.5 billion €. For 2014 the ZVEI expects the E&E industry’s total turnover to rise again onto 170 billion €.
The business climate in the German electrical and electronic industry has improved markedly once again in February 2014. Thereby, it has risen for four months in succession and reached the level of mid-year 2011. While the firms have raised their overall expectations for the next six months to come only slightly in February, the assessment of their current economic situation has resulted much more favorable than in January. 36% of the sector’s firms now evaluate their present situation as good, 51% as stable and 13% as bad. At the same time, 32% of the companies reckon with rising businesses in the next six months ahead. 63% and 5% of the firms expect stable and declining activities, respectively.
