German plastics and rubber machinery manufacturers expect sales for the current year to increase by 4% in real terms. A 3% rise is forecast for 2018.
“The extremely pleasing development in export markets was particularly striking in the second half of 2016,” said Ulrich Reifenhäuser, Chairman of the VDMA Plastics and Rubber Machinery Association, explaining the reason for manufacturers’ satisfaction.
There was a sharp increase in export sales in that period, resulting in export growth of 5.1% for the whole of the year 2016.
“Of course, the successful K 2016 fair provided a further boost, paving the way for additional sales,” added Reifenhäuser.
German output rose by 6% to €7.4 billion, hence by even more than world production as a whole, which was up by 3.1% and is estimated to amount to €34.9 billion in 2016.
After declining for three years running, exports to China are also set to pick up again with growth forecast for 2017 as a whole.
After a further slight fall in the first quarter of 2017 (-1.7%), supplies to China are expected to increase again in the following months. The expansionary economic policy measures of the Chinese government in particular are providing a boost in this regard, said VDMA.
Exports to the US, the biggest sales market for German plastics and rubber machinery, maintained their high level in the first quarter of 2017.
Further strong growth (+58.3%) was recorded in Mexico, the third-largest sales market, and in South Korea (+44.6%). As a result, South Korea shot up the rankings, entering the top 10 of countries buying German plastics and rubber machinery in the first quarter of 2017.
“In Britain, on the other hand, the effects of Brexit are slowly being felt,” said Thorsten Kühmann, Managing Director of the VDMA Plastics and Rubber Machinery Association in his trend analysis. Exports fell in the first quarter by 31%, resulting in that market dropping from 4th to 8th place among the major plastics and rubber machinery buying countries.”
Please read more from the SOURCE
