German industrial production rises 0.3% in August

German industrial production rises 0.3% in August

Berlin, Oct. 8, 2019 (Xinhua/NAN) The German Federal Statistical Office (Destatis) on Tuesday revealed that Germany’s industrial production increased slightly by 0.3 per cent in August from the previous month, following two months of decline.

The German ministry of economy attributed the increase to the manufacturing sector which rose 0.7 per cent from the previous month.

According to Destatis, the production of intermediate goods in Germany’s manufacturing sector rose by 1.0 per cent and production of capital goods such as heavy machinery or plants increased by 1.1 per cent.

However, the production of consumer goods had decreased by 1.0 per cent.

On a year-on-year basis, Germany’s industrial production declined by 4.0 per cent, marking the tenth consecutive month of year-on-year decline since October.

According to the German Ministry of Economy, Germany’s manufacturing sector will remain in a downturn in spite the slight recovery. The weakness in demand in manufacturing would continue.

However, Germany’s manufacturing sector showed a slight upswing after the losses suffered in the previous two months, energy production as well as production in its construction sector declined by 1.7 and 1.5 per cent respectively in August.

Simon Junker, an economist at the German Institute for Economic Research, noted that German industry remained in recession.
He added that the average of Germany’s industrial production in July and August would be around three-quarters of a per cent lower than in the second quarter of 2019.

Junker, however, expected foreign demand to gradually recover, and that would give Germany’s exporting companies in the industrial sector a slightly more noticeable boost at the turn of the year. (Xinhua/NAN)

YI/SN
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Edited by Yahaya Isah/Silas Nwoha