German Factory Orders Decline In April

(RTTNews) - Germany's factory orders declined more-than-expected in April, reflecting a weak start to the second quarter.

Manufacturing new orders dropped 2.1 percent month-on-month in April, reversing a revised 1.1 percent increase in March, figures published by Destatis revealed Wednesday.

Orders were forecast to drop slightly by 0.3 percent. The latest fall was the first in three months.

Excluding major orders in manufacturing, new orders remained unchanged in April.

Domestic orders slid 0.2 percent and foreign orders decreased 3.4 percent from the previous month. Orders from the euro area declined 1.4 percent and that from other countries fell 4.8 percent.

The Purchasing Managers' survey suggested that new orders received by German manufacturers increased in May at the fastest pace since April 2011, driven by strong domestic demand and a sharp rise in new export business.

Order books are still richly filled to ensure good production data in the months ahead and earlier episodes have shown that vacation and holiday driven delays will eventually be recovered, Carsten Brzeski, an ING DiBa economist, said.

Among components, manufacturers of intermediate goods reported a 0.1 percent rise in orders. Orders for capital goods decreased 3.6 percent and that for consumer goods slid 0.8 percent.

Data showed that manufacturing turnover advanced 1.3 percent from March, when it dropped by revised 0.3 percent.

On a yearly basis, factory orders growth accelerated to 3.5 percent in April from 2.5 percent in March.

Industrial production data is due on June 8. Output is expected to grow 0.5 percent on a monthly basis in April, reversing a 0.4 percent drop in March.