West German manufacturing: Capacity utilisation unchanged, new order activity weak

Firms in west German manufacturing utilised their production capacities at an 87.7% rate in December. In comparison to September 2000, capacity utilisation thus remained unchanged, while order reserves fell from 3.1 to 3.0 production months. In east Germany capacity utilisation fell from 85.4% in September to 84.7%, and order reserves also weakened from 3.2 to 3.1 months. For the coming months, firms expect weaker stimulus, especially from exports.