Frankfurt am Main: Industrial orders in Germany rebounded strongly in June, official data showed on Tuesday, although the relief for the troubled manufacturing sector came mainly from a few large contracts.
Producer firms reported 2.5 per cent more orders month-on-month, after a 2.0 per cent fall in May, federal statistics authority Destatis said in figures adjusted for seasonal and calendar effects.
That far outstripped forecasts of a 0.3 per cent lift from analysts surveyed by Factset.
The overall figure remained 3.6 per cent lower than in June 2018, when the unexpectedly strong growth seen through the previous year was finally running out of steam.
And stripping out large orders for items like aircraft or power turbines showed a fall of 0.4 per cent in new business.
European powerhouse Germany expects economic growth to slow this year to between 0.5 and 1.0 per cent, according to government and independent forecasts, after narrowly escaping recession late last year.
Trade conflicts, the threat of a no-deal Brexit and weakness in emerging markets are all weighing on its export-oriented manufacturing sector, although low unemployment and growing wages have shored up domestic demand.
Looking to different areas of manufacturing, capital goods makers reported an increase of 3.7 per cent in orders, while producer goods firms added 1.3 per cent.
New business for consumer goods makers fell by 0.4 per cent.
And in a geographical breakdown, all of the new demand seen in June came from outside the 19-nation eurozone, with the rest of the world adding 8.6 per cent.
New contracts from other nations in the single currency bloc fell 0.6 per cent, while German domestic orders dropped 1.0 per cent. — AFP
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