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First a slump, then recovery and now probably record sales: the mechanical engineering industry is growing (symbol image)
Photo: Uwe Anspach / DPA
It should be so far as early as 2022: According to the industry association VDMA, German mechanical engineering will then grow to the level before the pandemic.
Chief economist Ralph Wiechers expects a production increase of five percent adjusted for the price increases.
In 2021, the industry is even expected to produce around ten percent more than in 2020. However, this cannot fully compensate for the 11.8 percent drop in production caused by the start of the pandemic.
German mechanical engineering is strongly export-oriented.
If production facilities are set up in North America, German machines are often used for this.
At the beginning of the pandemic in particular, there were fewer such orders.
This had subsided in the last year, but there are still problems: almost everywhere companies report material and delivery bottlenecks.
In a VDMA survey from the beginning of September, a good 80 percent of those questioned stated that they suffered from "noticeable" or even "serious" impairments in the supply chain.
Most of the time there is a lack of electrotechnical or electronic components such as copper, steel or semiconductor chips.
The corona crisis and delivery difficulties have also made raw materials more expensive worldwide.
Almost two thirds are lacking in staff
The same survey also showed that many companies want to react to this: Almost 70 percent said they were looking for additional suppliers or alternative delivery routes, or that they wanted to store more materials.
VDMA President Karl Haeusgen said that he did not expect certain pre-production stages to be returned to Germany.
It makes more sense to consolidate a better and more robust international division of labor.
The survey also showed that the shortage of skilled workers is troubling the industry.
Almost two thirds of the respondents cited this as a serious problem.
The VDMA is nevertheless optimistic: Also because many missed orders could be processed in 2022, the year could be a record year with sales of 239 billion euros.
jlk / dpa
