German industrial orders slump 10.6pc in August
German industrial orders dropped sharply in August as a steep fall in large transport‑equipment bookings dragged headline demand lower, according to Destatis.
The federal statistics office said new orders fell 10.6% month‑on‑month on a seasonally and calendar‑adjusted basis, far worse than the 1% decline expected by economists.
Destatis said the entire drop was due to a 61.5% slump in the 'other transport equipment' category, which includes aircraft, ships, trains and military vehicles, after an exceptionally strong July driven by major one‑off contracts.
Excluding large‑scale orders, demand was broadly flat, slipping just 0.1% on the month. In the three‑month comparison, orders between June and August were 1.3% higher than in the previous period.
July's increase was revised up to 3.2% from a provisional 2.5% reading.
Foreign orders fell 5.4%, with eurozone demand down by the same amount and non‑eurozone orders off 5.5%. Domestic orders were markedly weaker, dropping 17.3% on the month.
Reporting by Iain Gilbert at Sharecast.com