Germany: Industrial orders drop in October – ING

Carsten Brzeski, chief economist at ING, notes that German new industrial orders dropped by 0.4% month-on-month in October, from 1.5% in September.

Key Quotes

“On the year, new orders were down by 5.5%. Domestic orders dropped by a whopping 3.2%, while foreign orders increased by 1.5%, driven by a sharp bulk-order-driven 11% increase in orders from Eurozone countries.”

“The great order book deflation in German industry continues. In fact, it looks as if 2019 wil be the second year in a row in which new orders have fallen. In 2018, orders dropped by 0.4% on average. Currently, 2019 is on track to record a monthly average drop of some 0.6%.”

“All of this means that the discrepancy between thin order books and high inventories is now bigger than at the start of the mini-recession in 2012 and does not bode well for industrial production in coming months.”