Manufacturing orders in Germany slumped more than economists expected in October as European demand for plant and machinery collapsed.
Orders, adjusted for seasonal swings and inflation, fell 6.1 per cent from September, when they dropped 8.3 per cent, the Economy Ministry in Berlin said today.
It’s the tenth decline in the past 11 months. Bonds rose and the euro dropped. Manufacturers are cutting output and spending as financial market turmoil pushes up borrowing costs and stalling global growth erodes demand.
Europe, Germany’s biggest export market, falls deeper into recession, companies like truck maker MAN AG and chemical maker BASF SE are reining in production. The Bundesbank today forecast the deepest German recession in 16 years for 2009.
“Germany’s industry is drowning,” said Carsten Brzeski, an economist at ING Group in Brussels. “November is unlikely to be any better because no matter how good German products are, if people don’t want to buy, they don’t want to buy.
“It’s not going to get better any time soon.” From a year earlier, orders fell 17.3 per cent. Foreign demand declined 6.2 per cent in the month, today’s” report showed, while domestic orders slid 6.1 per cent.
Bloomberg