Material Shortages Ease in German Manufacturing
he shortage of materials in German manufacturing has eased somewhat. In August, 62 percent of the companies surveyed reported problems, compared with 73.3 percent in July. The August figure is the lowest in over a year. This is a finding from the ifo Institute’s latest survey. “It would sadly be wrong to describe this as a permanent easing,” says Klaus Wohlrabe, Head of Surveys at ifo. “The decline is still too small to trigger the kind of significant upswing in industrial production that would boost the economy.”
The easing was most pronounced in the leather industry (from 79.5 percent to 38.9 percent) and in the furniture industry (from 62.8 percent to 33.4 percent). Nevertheless, the problems still loom large, especially in the key sectors of the German economy. Among manufacturers of machinery and equipment, the share of companies reporting that they aren’t receiving all the materials and intermediate products they need still stands at 85.7 percent. In the electrical and electronics industry, too, around 80 percent have the same complaint. “A significant decline here could trigger a positive domino effect,” Wohlrabe says.
