Volume 37, Issue 9, September 2002

German Construction Equipment and Building Material Machine Industries Look Cautiously Toward the Future

The German construction equipment industry is cautiously optimistic about the future, reported the German Engineering Federation (VDMA). For the first four months of the year, domestic and export order intake for construction equipment increased by 3 percent compared to last year. Domestic orders for building material machinery, however, showed a 1-percent decline, while export orders rose 8 percent.

According to Dr. Reinhold Festge, VDMA chairperson, the 2002 sales value of construction equipment will be down an estimated 2 percent, but building machinery is expected to grow by 2 percent. At the association’s board meeting, Festge said the combined sales for both divisions will be 7.3 billion Euro, making the 2002 final result only 1 percent below that of 2001.

Likewise, the VDMA also reported that the value of construction equipment sales to the United States for 2001 was 505 million Euro. During 2001 construction equipment exports amounted to 3.32 billion Euro, and, according to the association, sales for 2002 will end with a 5- to 10-percent increase.

USG