VDMA
Mechanical engineering expects production growth in 2017
Despite all the difficulties in many important foreign markets, mechanical engineering companies are expecting a slight upturn in business in the coming year - following zero growth in the current year.
"We are relying on the resilience, adaptability and innovative capacity of our mechanical engineering companies," announces VDMA President Dr. Reinhold Festge. "Our production forecast for 2017 is therefore: plus 1% in real terms." For the current year, the VDMA economists confirm their forecast of only zero growth in real production.
According to current forecasts, global gross domestic product will only increase by 2.7% this year - the lowest rate since the financial crisis in 2009. "This is not enough for the mechanical engineering industry to really get going, as the growth rate would have to reach more than 3%," explains VDMA Chief Economist Ralph Wiechers. China in particular is largely failing as a growth engine for the world this year, with some serious consequences not only for the German mechanical engineering sector. Other countries or regions will only be able to compensate for this investment weakness to a limited extent. Added to this are new uncertainties in important sales markets such as the UK and Turkey. As a result, machinery exports from Germany fell by 3.4% in real terms in the period from January to July 2016 compared to the previous year. However, the export climate in the mechanical engineering sector has recently brightened somewhat, meaning that further declines in exports can probably be avoided.
You might also be interested in
Production increase for 2017
Stagnation is followed by a slight increase in growth - according to the VDMA's current forecast for the German mechanical engineering sector.
read more...2017 will be a year of growth
Carl Martin Welcker announced a real production increase of 1% at the VDMA's economic press conference. The association president thus confirmed the forecast for the mechanical and plant engineering sector for this year.
read more...Mechanical and plant engineering
New president at VDMA
The VDMA has a new president: family entrepreneur Carl Martin Welcker. He replaces Dr. Reinhold Festge, who was elected President in 2013.
read more...International Federation of Robotics
Robotics - the development up to 2019
More than 1.4 million new robots will be installed worldwide by 2019 - according to the latest forecast by the International Federation of Robotics (IFR). What are the drivers of growth? How are the individual sales markets and regions developing?
read more...VDMA criticizes new safety law in China
According to the VDMA, China's path to becoming an industrial nation and Industry 4.0 has a number of pitfalls - particularly in the field of cybersecurity. The plans for a new cyber security law could lead to a restriction of market access.
read more...Salaries in mechanical and plant engineering
It is not the age of mechanical and plant engineers that determines the level of their salaries, but their qualifications. This is one of the findings of the new '2016 Salary Study for Specialists and Managers', which has now been published by the...
read more...Record sales for "seeing" machines from Germany
In the run-up to the Vision trade fair in Stuttgart (8.11. to 10.11.), the VDMA referred to the excellent figures for industrial image processing in Germany: 2015 saw record sales and the industry's growth is set to continue unabated this year.
read more...Dual leadership in Shanghai
Stefan Becker has been appointed Managing Director of Eckelmann Automation Technology in Shanghai and will manage the subsidiary together with Zhongwei Huang.
read more...Ergonomic workstation solutions with linear technology & co
RK Rose+Krieger is presenting components and system solutions from the fields of linear technology, profile technology, connection technology and module technology at Motek. One current example is the 'RK Easymount' assembly table.
read more...