Mechanical engineering companies fail to gain momentum - decline in orders

German mechanical engineering companies continue to struggle with weakening demand.

In April, orders shrank by 20 percent compared to the same month last year, the German Engineering Federation (VDMA) announced on Monday. The important export business even recorded a drop of 23 percent, while domestic orders were 15 percent weaker. With a decline of six percent in March, manufacturers had still been hopeful of a turnaround. The current result reflects the recent deterioration in economic sentiment, said VDMA economic expert Olaf Wortmann. "The global economic burdens are still great, so that an improvement in incoming orders is unlikely to materialize."

(Report by Tom Käckenhoff, edited by Myria Mildenberger. If you have any questions, please contact our editorial team at [e-mail] (for politics and the economy) or [e-mail] (for companies and markets).