In February of this year, incoming orders in the German electrical and electronics industry were still 2.7% above the previous year's figure. Production and sales were at best at the previous year's level. However, these figures did not yet show the effects of the coronavirus pandemic.
In contrast, the rapidly declining mood in the industry was reflected in several climate indicators available for the first weeks of March. Production plans were revised sharply downwards: The balance of companies that planned to produce more or less in the next three months fell from plus nine to minus twelve percentage points.
Employment plans were also revised downwards. The proportion of companies planning to reduce employment exceeded the proportion of companies still planning to increase by more than 11%. Short-time working was already planned by 28% of electrical companies in the first half of March.
The business climate in the German electrical and electronics industry also fell significantly by mid-March. Both the assessment of the current situation and general business expectations deteriorated. 43% of companies expected business to decline over the next six months. According to the ZVEI, the balance of positive and negative export expectations fell by 23 points in the first weeks of March and now stands at minus 14% - compared to plus nine in February. -dir/vk-
www.zvei.org
