ZCZC
BCN-06
GERMANY-ECONOMY-INDICATOR
Worst-ever plunge for German industrial orders in March
FRANKFURT AM MAIN, May 6, 2020 (BSS/AFP) – German manufacturers reported their worst plunge in new orders on record in March, official data showed Wednesday, reflecting the impact of the novel coronavirus on a key indicator of future activity.
New contracts toppled by 15.6 percent month-on-month as infection control restrictions began to bite, statistics authority Destatis said in seasonally-adjusted figures, calling it “the biggest fall since the beginning of the data series in 1991”.
The drop outstripped forecasts of 10 percent from analysts surveyed by Bloomberg News, as well as the 7.5 percent fall seen in January 2009, the worst month in the worst year of the financial crisis.
The 2008-9 crisis also saw five successive months with falls of around seven percent, for a total of around 40 percent.
German business and political leaders will hope to avoid such disaster as the country broadens reopening measures after weeks of lockdown imposed to control the virus’ spread.
But the March fall “is not only the result of the lockdown measures in Germany, but also driven by the lockdown measures elsewhere and supply chain disruptions,” ING bank economist Carsten Brzeski commented.
Domestic orders and those from outside the eurozone both fell around 15 percent, while demand from other members in the single currency bloc dropped faster at 17.9 percent.
Wednesday’s figures also highlighted an uneven distribution of the impact among manufacturing firms, with makers of capital goods reporting orders collapsing by 22.6 percent.
Meanwhile, producer goods firms saw a drop of 7.5 percent and consumer goods just 1.3 percent.
“In case you want to drop some of the extra corona kilos you gained over the last weeks, you only have a look at German macro data. It will definitely spoil your appetite,” Brzeski said.
BSS/AFP/MMA/1418HRS