Boom continues in manufacturing

Manufacturing continues to be the cycle-maker since Germany's exports are primarily from the manufacturing sector and since changes in the international economic environment have an early impact here. This underscores the importance of an intensive observation of economic activity in manufacturing. The current economic upswing in German manufacturing has been felt across all sectors and in numerous industry branches, not just a few. Enterprises in the sectors intermediate goods and capital goods have profited the most from the current boom. The participants of the Ifo Business Survey from the two sectors have assessed their current business situation as better than in all boom phases since 1991. In addition, nearly 30 percent of intermediate goods producers and almost a quarter of capital goods producers assess their order reserves as "good". For manufacturers of consumer goods, the upswing is noticeable albeit more reserved, and the stimulus is primarily from abroad. In the past years, the consumer goods sector has improved its competitiveness on foreign markets more effectively than the intermediate goods sector. Order reserves, however, are not as favourable, especially not for manufacturers of durable consumer goods.