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An employee in a BMW plant in Leipzig - the order situation of Automobilundstrie has reached the pre-crisis level
Photo: Jan Woitas / picture alliance / dpa
In August, Germany’s industry recorded an increase in orders for the fourth month in a row.
As the Federal Statistical Office announced, incoming orders in the manufacturing sector were 4.5 percent higher than in July 2020.
The Federal Ministry of Economics announced: "The catch-up process for incoming orders in the manufacturing sector is continuing at a remarkable pace."
After the loosening of the "hard lockdown in April", a "steady recovery can be observed" since May.
This is carried "above all by the demand from abroad."
Domestic orders increased by 1.7 percent and international orders by 6.5 percent.
However, the pre-crisis level has still not been reached.
Compared to February 2020, the month before the restrictions caused by the corona pandemic in Germany, incoming orders were 3.6 percent lower, seasonally and calendar adjusted.
The automotive industry, the largest branch of the manufacturing industry, has already reached the pre-crisis level, however: it was 0.3 percent above the level in February.
The mechanical engineering industry, on the other hand, recorded a strong increase in orders (11.4 percent) in August, but remained 5.8 percent below the February level.
Still "considerable uncertainties"
"The international business remains marked by considerable uncertainties," warned the expert of the German Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Ilja Nothnagel.
"The concern about restrictions in the cross-border movement of goods and people is increasing again."
This is fueled by the sharp rise in corona infections at important trading partners such as France.
This increases the risk of a setback, said Alexander Krüger, the chief economist of the Lampe Bank.
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bah / AFP / Reuters
