foreign trade
Machine exports almost at pre-crisis level
Germany’s machine builders are aiming for record numbers for 2022. Photo: Stefan Puchner/dpa
© dpa-infocom GmbH
The German machine builders are selling almost as many goods abroad as before Corona. The fact that the annual balance sheet for 2021 is so good despite delivery bottlenecks makes the industry optimistic.
Despite headwinds in exports last year, Germany’s mechanical engineering companies have almost reached the pre-crisis level again and are aiming for record figures for 2022.
According to preliminary figures, exports in the past year increased nominally by 9.8 percent to 179.4 billion euros, as the industry association VDMA announced on Friday in Frankfurt.
Industry struggled with delivery bottlenecks
“Unprecedented pressure on the supply chains ultimately meant that machine exports just missed their 2019 level, despite brisk orders from abroad,” explained VDMA economics expert Olaf Wortmann. According to the association, machine exports were still around one percent below the pre-crisis level. “But the first signs of relaxation in the supply chains and the persistently high level of incoming orders make us positive that 2022 could be a record year,” said Wortmann.
In the first year of the 2020 pandemic, Germany’s plant and mechanical engineering companies shipped 10.1 percent fewer goods abroad than in 2019. Last year, companies had to struggle with delivery bottlenecks because demand increased worldwide as the economy recovered from the corona shock .
The countries of the European Union are the most important sales region for machines “Made in Germany” with a share of almost 44 percent of the total volume. The USA remains the largest single market ahead of China. Exports to the United States increased year-on-year by 13.9 percent to a good 20.7 billion euros. Exports to China increased by 6.3 percent to around 19.3 billion euros.
In the export business with the EU partner countries, the industry recorded an increase of 10.8 percent to a good 78.5 billion euros. In the annual statistics, Russia ranks ninth among the most important customer countries. Companies from Germany delivered 3.8 percent more machines and systems there than a year earlier, with a volume of almost 5.5 billion euros.