German machine tool industry is expected to resume growth in 2014

The German machine tool manufacturing industry is expected to resume growth in 2014 after a slump in 2013. Wilfried Schfer, head of the German Machine Tool Manufacturers Association (VDM), said that since 2000, the global market demand for machine tools has grown at an average annual rate of 5%. In 2012, Germany produced a total of machine tools worth 14.2 billion euros, an increase of 10% year-on-year. However, in 2013, the sales of machine tools fell sharply, and the sales situation for the whole year was not optimistic, and it could only achieve a growth of 1% at most. The machine tool market is expected to resume growth in 2014. Germany is the third largest producer of machine tools in the world, with a market share of about 16%.