Third-quarter 2016 new orders for machine tools weakened in Germany and Italy, two of the largest contributors to the European machine-tool market, and two of the largest machine-tool exporting industries in the world. While the Europe’s machine-tool manufacturers have regained some growth momentum in the past year (after a slow recovery from the 2009 recession) the latest trends show that weak global industrial demand still having some effect.
The results are found in the 3Q activity summaries issued by VDW, the German Machine Tool Builders Assn., and UCIMU, the Italian trade group representing manufacturers of machines tools, automation systems, and auxiliary products. Both VDW and UCIMU are members of CECIMO, the European Union-wide federation of machine-tool trade associations; earlier this year, CECIMO presented an encouraging outlook for EU machine tool output and an even more optimistic view of the trend for machine tool exports, in spite of global industrial weakness.
For the third quarter of 2016, the German machine tool industry’s new orders rose by 8% compared to Q3 2015. Domestic (i.e., German) orders were down by 14%, though demand from abroad increased by 22%.
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