Another increase in production
Industry is also strong in February
04/06/2023 10:24 AM
The cream month in January is followed by another strong growth. Thanks to the increase in orders and the reduction of bottlenecks in supplies, German companies were able to increase their production in February for the second month in a row.
Industrial production also rose sharply in February, with the Federal Bureau of Statistics showing a 2.0 percent rise from a price-, seasonally- and calendar-adjusted January. Industrial production in January also grew more significantly than initially announced, namely by 3.7 percent compared to December. The significant decline in production at the end of the year was “more than compensated for”, the statisticians explained.
The automotive industry had a particularly large share of overall output growth, with Germany’s largest industrial sector increasing its output by 7.6 percent compared to January. The construction complex increased overall production by 1.5 percent. Pure industrial production (which includes manufacturing excluding energy and construction) rose 2.4 percent in February.
“The recovery of production growth in the manufacturing industry in February indicates a stable industrial economy in the first quarter,” the Federal Ministry of Economics said. According to surveys, the business prospects of companies have improved even more recently. Added to this is a good order situation, and delivery bottlenecks are gradually disappearing.
“The fact that production in energy-intensive industries has also increased markedly indicates that the energy crisis may have bottomed out,” the ministry added. The production of chemical products, for example, grew in February by 3.2 percent, the processing of oil products increased by 6.7 percent. Only glass production decreased by 0.8 percent.
Leading economic institutes on Wednesday only raised their economic outlook due to a sharp drop in energy prices and weakening supply chains. This year, they expect growth of 0.3 percent.