Material Shortages in Germany Ease Slightly
Material shortages in German manufacturing have eased somewhat. In October, 63.8 percent of the companies surveyed reported supply bottlenecks, down from 65.8 percent in September. This is a finding of the ifo Institute’s latest survey. “The manufacturing sector is currently unable to process its large order backlog,” says Klaus Wohlrabe, Head of Surveys at ifo. “If it could, however, this would provide much-needed support for the economy.”
The situation has eased somewhat in the automotive industry, with that indicator falling from 82.0 percent to 74.9 percent. In many other industries, the figures remain similarly high, for instance for manufacturers of electrical equipment (76.1 percent) and of machinery and equipment (85.9 percent). Beverage producers reported a record high, with 79.1 percent now affected, up from 70.1 percent. In energy-intensive industries, developments were uneven: while the proportion of companies affected in the chemical industry rose from 44.9 percent to 49.1 percent, it fell from 41.7 percent to 35.3 percent in the glass and ceramics industry. “This may be due to a decline in production,” Wohlrabe says.
