According to the VDMA plastics and rubber machinery association, orders for German machinery rose by 14% in the second quarter of 2013. “Although the first half year as a whole still shows a 6% decline,” said Ulrich Reifenhäuser, the Association’s Chairman, “the industry is pleased to report that in the last three months incoming orders have picked up again after a year of negative growth.” The industry’s sales in the first half of 2013 matched the previous year’s level of 6%.

“The period from January to May 2013 also saw the industry’s foreign deliveries return to the previous year’s level. The negative rates eased steadily as the year progressed. From March to May foreign deliveries rose by 9.7%,” explained Thorsten Kühmann, the Association’s Managing Director. “The welcome upward trend in exports to Russia and the US continued, with China, India and Turkey also showing substantial rates of growth in the same period.”

Based on the figures up to and including April, the Association’s recent prediction still pointed to a slight decline in sales of 1% for 2013. The industry forecast will be updated again in time for K’2013.