The order intake by the German mechanical and plant engineering industry was up by 35% in real figures in April as compared to April 2007. The volume of orders received from within Germany increased by 19% in comparison with April last year. The demand from abroad, on the other hand, grew by 44%. These figures were published yesterday by the German association for mechanical and plant engineering (VDMA) in Frankfurt. Thus, the slight shrinking registered in March this year (-5%) was more than compensated for.
Such an increased business volume had been expected by experts. The volume of orders from abroad was additionally boosted by orders for large-scale plants.
Over the three-month period from February to April 2008 the overall volume of incoming orders increased by 12% as compared to the same period last year, domestic orders by 7% and orders from abroad by 14%. 