Order Books in German Manufacturing Fuller than Ever Before
With their current order books, German manufacturers can keep production going for longer than ever before: according to an ifo Institute survey, they have sufficient orders to cover the next 4.5 months. “We’ve seen nothing like it since we first asked this question in 1969. In recent months, manufacturers couldn’t process incoming orders because they lacked key intermediate products and raw materials,” says Timo Wollmershäuser, Head of Forecasts at ifo.
“If the bottlenecks ease in the coming months, German manufacturing output could really take off,” he adds. “That in turn ought to give economic output a big boost.” The order backlog is particularly large in the automotive industry (manufacturers and suppliers), equating to an estimated 8.0 months of production; for manufacturers of machinery and equipment (6.1 months); and for manufacturers of data processing equipment (5.0 months). Orders are slimmest for printing companies at 1.9 months.
