German Machine Tool Orders Improve

Rising export demand boosted Germany's key mechanical engineering sector in November, the VDMA industry federation said. The manufacture of machine tools is an important part of Germany's industrial and export performance.

Overall incoming orders were up by 7 percent in November compared with the level in same month in 2012, VDMA said in a statement. Export orders jumped by 12 percent while domestic orders were down by 1 percent.

However, taking a three-month comparison to iron out short-term fluctuations, overall orders were down by 3 percent in the period from September to November, with foreign orders falling by 7 percent, while domestic orders grew by 5 percent, VDMA calculated.

http://www.thestandard.com.hk/breaking_news_detail.asp?id=45256&icid=1&d_str=