At the VDMA's annual press conference, VDMA President Karl Haeusgen said the association was optimistic that it would achieve the forecast real production growth of 1 percent in 2022. Beyond that, he continues to anticipate real production declines of 2 percent next year.

Biggest risks still in the supply chains

Production in the machinery and plant engineering sector continues to be noticeably impacted by difficulties in supply chains and material bottlenecks. According to the latest VDMA flash survey of its members conducted at the beginning of December, 74 percent of companies see their business seriously or noticeably impaired by such bottlenecks. In June, however, the figure was still 87 percent.

In the latest survey, companies report a noticeable easing of the situation with regard to chemicals, plastics and metal products. By contrast, the situation for electronic components remains tense, albeit with a downward trend.

According to VDMA economists, this development may have a positive impact on production in the final months of 2022. From January up to and including October, real production in the machinery and plant engineering sector was still 0.4 percent below its prior-year level. Order intake in the first ten months of the year was down 1 percent year-on-year in real terms, while the order backlog in September 2022 was still 11.9 months and thus remains very high.