German industrial production falls 0.4% in March as producers lack new orders

LONDON (ICIS)–German industrial production fell 0.4% in March month on month, but output from the chemical-pharmaceuticals sector rose slightly according to statistical data released on Wednesday.

Bundesbank, chem-pharma production order volume index (2021=100):

March 2024	February 2024	March 2023	Q1 2024	Q4 2023	Q1 2023
92.6	91.6	85.7	90.1	84.6	86.3

Production in the energy-intensive industries, which includes chemicals, remained flat month on month in March but rose 4.8% in Q1 2024 from Q4 2023.

In the automotive industry, which is an important end market for chemicals, March production rose 0.6% from February.

March 2024 production	+/- change from February
Total output from industry, construction and energy	-0.4%
Industrial production	-0.4%
-Intermediate goods	-0.6%
-Capital goods	0.1%
-Consumer goods	-1.4%
Energy	-4.2%
Construction	1.0%

(source: Statistisches Bundesamt, Wiesbaden)

Industrial production was down 3.4% from March 2023 while total production from industry, construction and energy was down 3.3%.

LACK OF ORDERS
According to a survey by the Munich-based research group ifo on Wednesday, a shortage of new manufacturing orders worsened in April, slowing the overall economy.

In manufacturing, 39.5% of companies reported a lack of orders, up from 36.9% in ifo’s January survey.

In the chemical industry the share of companies reporting a lack of orders was 46.6% in April.

In related news, a labor union has threatened “massive” strikes in the building and construction sectors after a failure to reach a new collective agreement with their employers.

Along with the auto sector, building and construction are important end markets for the chemicals industry.