VDMA Monthly bulletin April 2016 | Volkswirtschaft und Statistik Monthly bulletin

VDMA Incoming orders in Germany Mechanical engineering | Volkswirtschaft und Statistik Monthly bulletin Growth at home and abroad In February, incoming orders exceeded the previous year by 7 percent in real terms. Both domestic and international demand contributed to this growth. This partly compensated for the double-digit decline in January. But the result is not cause for a new spirit of optimism, as the bar for the year-on-year comparison, incoming orders in February 2015, is very low. In addition, orders from non-euro countries grew only thanks to large-scale systems business. April 2016 Page 2 |

VDMA Production of German mechanical engineering | Volkswirtschaft und Statistik Monthly bulletin In 2015, production of machinery and equipment in Germany was 0.3 percent below the previous year. The forecast zero growth was therefore achieved. However, there may still be corrections. The VDMA economists are forecasting stagnation in the current year. There are not yet any official mechanical engineering production figures for April 2016 Page 3 |

VDMA Capacity utilization in German mechanical engineering | Volkswirtschaft und Statistik Monthly bulletin Capacity utilization stood at 83.6 percent in January 2016, only just below the long-term industry average. The record low since 2011 was 83.6 percent in January The all-time high was reached in July 2011 at 89.9 percent. April 2016 Page 4 |

VDMA Employees in German mechanical engineering | Volkswirtschaft und Statistik Monthly bulletin The German mechanical engineering industry started the year 2016 with an employment figure of million. A drop in employment in January is typical for the season. Considering the general course of economic activity at the beginning of the year, the change year on year turns out quite unexpected. Following an 0.4 percent increase in December the rate grew again by 0.6 percent in January. The low in employment since 2011 was 909,000 people in January 2011; the record high was just under 1,019,000 in September April 2016 Page 5 |

VDMA German machine export | Volkswirtschaft und Statistik Monthly bulletin In January 2016, German exports of machinery were 5.9 percent down on the same month of the previous year in nominal terms. In the somewhat more stable three-month comparison of the period from November to January with the same period of the previous year, the markets EU-28 and EURO-19 maintained their moderate growth rates of 5.5 and 7.2 percent respectively. France saw growth of as much as 9.2 percent. In contrast, NAFTA lost momentum and grew by just 3.9 percent (USA: 1.8 percent). China declined sharply again at minus 7.8 percent, while South Korea was up by 16.2 percent. Southeast Asia dropped again by 2.7 percent, South America by 21.5 percent (Brazil: minus 35.3 percent) and India by 12.6 percent. The Middle East is now in decline as a whole (i.e. including Saudi Arabia and the Emirates). Russian exports decreased by another 20.8 percent. April 2016 Page 6 |

VDMA Incoming orders in Germany for selected subsectors | Volkswirtschaft und Statistik Monthly bulletin In the last three statistically documented months (December February 2016), 12 of the subsectors accounted for separately in the VDMA’s incoming order statistics posted growth. Four subsectors achieved growth rates of 15 percent or more. These include process plant and equipment, mining equipment, garment and leather technology and lifts and escalators. However, power transmission engineering, woodworking machinery, foundry machinery, machinery for metallurgical plants and rolling mills and power systems (turbines) recorded downturns of 15 percent or more. April 2016 Page 7 |

VDMA Orders on hand in German mechanical engineering | Volkswirtschaft und Statistik Monthly bulletin The order backlog for the mechanical engineering industry was 5.8 production months in February An order range of just under six months is a good figure for the mechanical engineering industry, in view of an average throughput time of around three-and- a-half months due to reasons of technology. This shows that there are some order blocks here and there to ensure satisfactory levels of capacity utilisation. On the other hand, lead times and supply bottlenecks for customers are not likely to be a real problem. April 2016 Page 8 |

VDMA Business situation and expectations Manufacturing industry in Germany | Volkswirtschaft und Statistik Monthly bulletin The business climate index in the manufacturing industry improved again somewhat in March 2016 after the sharp decline in the previous month. Industrial companies were somewhat happier with their current situation. Expectations also increased slightly after the slump in the previous month. The improvement among industrial firms was attributable primarily to consumer goods manufacturers. April 2016 Page 9 |

VDMA Economic situation of German mechanical engineering | Volkswirtschaft und Statistik Monthly bulletin April 2016 Page 10 |

VDMA| Volkswirtschaft und StatistikPage 11 | April 2016 Contact. Dr. Ralph Wiechers VDMA Volkswirtschaft und Statistik Lyoner Str Frankfurt Phone Monthly bulletin