The German mechanical engineering sector received 15 percent fewer orders in November 2019 year-on-year, the Mechanical Engineering Industry Association (VDMA) announced on Thursday.
Orders from countries in the eurozone declined by 11 percent while orders from countries outside the European currency zone even fell by 16 percent, according to VDMA.

"The negative trend of recent months is continuing," said VDMA chief economist Ralph Wiechers. In a year-on-year comparison, new orders for Germany's mechanical industry had continuously fallen every month.

Between September and November, the decline in incoming orders was less pronounced and amounted to an average of 10 percent, according to VDMA.

However, the comparatively high order situation until November 2018 "must be taken into account" when comparing the figures of 2018 with the figures of 2019, added Wiechers.

The German industry association has repeatedly stated that trade disputes, increasing protectionism around the globe, the unresolved Brexit issue, as well as far-reaching structural change in the automotive industry would "increasingly leave their marks in the books of mechanical engineering companies."

With these restrictions still not fixed, VDMA recently assumed that production would shrink by around 2 percent in 2020 compared with the previous year, following a decline of around 2 percent in 2019.

Source: Xinhua