Germany: industry suffers from war in Ukraine and Covid in China
Production line of a robot factory in Germany.
© U. Baumgarten/Getty Images
Text by: RFI Follow
1 min
German industry is suffering the consequences of the war in Ukraine and the outbreak of Covid-19 in China.
Industrial production figures fell quite heavily in March.
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The manufacturing sector, the pillar of the German economy, recorded a drop of nearly 4% over one month, much worse than analysts expected.
If we look in detail, the production of intermediate goods and consumer goods has certainly faltered, but it is the manufacture of capital goods that has particularly pulled industry down.
This is therefore indicative of the reluctance to invest in a tense political and economic context, linked among other things to the war in Ukraine.
Industrial orders for this type of goods also plunged in March.
Disruptions to supply chains
Many companies are also suffering from disruptions in supply chains.
In question, there are the health measures to fight against the Covid-19 pandemic, in particular in China.
The war in Ukraine is also in question.
Ukraine, for example, supplied spare parts to automobile manufacturers.
If industrial production does not rebound in the coming weeks, this will slow down German growth.
At the end of April, Berlin already revised its annual forecast downwards.
►Also read: Germany: supply problems slow down industrial production
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