Germany: VDMA reports orders down 20% in Jan-Sep 2020

After 10 years of growth, the sales boom for the woodworking machinery industry is coming to an end this year, said Mechanical Engineering Industry Association (VDMA) in a statement. In addition to the economic slowdown already indicated in 2019, the corona pandemic acts as a significant brake. By September 2020, around 20% less orders for woodworking machinery are on the books than in the previous year. All in all, VDMA anticipates a 15% drop in production in the current year in Germany.

In the first eight months of the current year, the export value of German woodworking machinery fell by 15% year-on-year to Euro 1.3 billion. Among the top-10 export destinations, only Austria, Brazil and Lithuania were able to increase exports. In the case of the latter two, the increase is the result of deliveries of individual large-scale plants. The two most important markets, China and the USA, suffered above-average losses of 18 and 42% respectively.