German machine tool manufacturing orders will fall by 20% to 30% next year

According to the German Financial Times, the chairman of the German Machine Tool Manufacturers Association (VDW) Karp said at the opening ceremony of the 'World Metalworking Fair' in Hannover that the growth of the industry will slow down in the second half of 2011. The German machine tool manufacturing industry currently employs about 70,000 people and has an annual sales of 10 billion euros. The development trend of this industry is one of the important indicators to measure the economic development of Germany. Orders for the industry rose 91 percent in the first seven months of 2011, an all-time high, and Karp expects the industry's output to grow 30 percent this year. At present, large orders in this industry mainly come from emerging market countries, and 70% of the products are exported overseas, of which China is the most important exporter, and about one-third of the exported machine tools are sold to China. German machine tool manufacturer DMG President Kapitza said that in 2012 German machine tool manufacturing orders will drop by 20% to 30%.