Wholesaling: Business Climate Cools Down Slightly

The business climate in wholesaling cooled down somewhat. The indicator returned to the level seen in spring, but remains considerably higher than the figure for the same period last year. The wholesalers surveyed assessed their current business situation less favourably than in summer and scaled back their optimistic expectations. This development was due to a significant decline in consumer goods and durables. In the business-to-business sector, by contrast, the climate remained stable. Growth in turnover in the second quarter was slower than previously, according to official statistics. Compared to the same quarter last year, turnover increased by 0.4 % in real terms and by 3.3% nominally. Wholesalers were slightly more satisfied with turnover in September compared to the same period last year. Inventories fell and remain below the long-term average. More wholesalers are planning to ramp up their order volumes in the months ahead. The official figures on wholesale sales prices showed another sharp increase for August (3.2%), after a slight slowdown in the spring. According to the ifo Business Survey, sales prices increased more frequently and a slightly greater number of wholesalers also expects sales prices to rise over the next three months. The increase in employment continued. Although the number of persons employed increased less in June (0.8%) than in the previous months, according to official statistics, survey participants scaled up their hiring plans for the next three months.