According to a survey, German industry is sitting on a record high order mountain.

Even without a single new order, it could continue to produce for another 4.5 months, according to the analysis of the April Ifo business survey published on Monday.

In the previous survey in January, it was 4.4 months.

For comparison: the long-term average order reach is 2.9 months.

"The increase in reach is now only small," said the head of the Ifo economic forecasts, Timo Wollmershäuser.

"This indicates that the flow of new orders is gradually weakening."

The Federal Statistical Office had also recently measured a record range.

"The backlog of orders not only reflects the high demand for German industrial goods in recent months, but also the difficulties faced by companies in processing existing orders promptly due to the lack of important preliminary products and raw materials," explained Wollmershäuser.

Because of the Russian war against Ukraine, the car industry complained about a lack of wiring harnesses.

Delivery bottlenecks cause concern

If the delivery bottlenecks are resolved in the coming months, production in German industry could take off.

"That would then give a strong boost to economic output," said economic expert Wollmershäuser.

"However, there are currently many indications that the supply bottlenecks are getting worse, especially as a result of the rigorous lockdowns in China, from where Germany recently got 15 percent of its imported primary products." There, for example, container ships are damming up in front of the huge commercial port of Shanghai after the metropolis in was sent a week-long corona lockdown.

The range of orders in the automotive industry (manufacturers and suppliers) is particularly large at 7.4 months.

According to the Ifo figures, it is also particularly high in mechanical engineering (6.5 months) and among manufacturers of data processing equipment (6.3 months).

Accordingly, orders from textile manufacturers are the shortest at 1.7 months.

Wholesale prices continue to rise

Meanwhile, German wholesalers raised their prices again at record speed in April because of the economic upheaval caused by the Russian war against Ukraine.

They rose by an average of 23.8 percent compared to the same month last year, as the Federal Statistical Office announced on Monday.

There has not been a greater increase since the calculations began in 1962.

In March it was still 22.6 percent, which was also a high.

From March to April alone, wholesale prices rose by 2.1 percent.

"The effects of the war in Ukraine on wholesale prices can be observed in April 2022, especially in the wholesale of raw materials and energy sources, but also of various foods," the statisticians explained the trend.

Also disrupted supply chains,

The development is considered an indicator of future inflationary tendencies, since wholesalers are the link between manufacturers and end customers, and higher costs are likely to end up at least partly with consumers.

Consumer prices rose by 7.4 percent in April, the highest rate since 1981, as significantly more had to be paid for energy and food.

The record high increase in wholesale is due to sharply increased prices for many raw materials and intermediate products.

Wholesale petroleum products cost 63.4 percent more than in April 2021. Solid fuels (up 70.9 percent) and ores, metals and semi-finished metals (up 55.7 percent) also became very expensive.

Wholesale prices for grain, raw tobacco, seeds and animal feed (+56.3 percent) and chemical products (+44.4 percent) were also significantly higher.

In the wholesale of milk, milk products, eggs, edible oils and edible fats, the increase was 29.7 percent.