German Factory Orders Growth Tops Expectations

(RTTNews) - German factory orders grew at a faster pace in March as manufacturers rushed to secure raw materials ahead of potential future price increases and supply shortages.

Factory orders increased 5.0 percent in March compared to February's revised growth of 1.4 percent, Destatis reported Thursday. The monthly increase significantly outpaced the 1.0 percent forecast and also marked the fastest growth in three months. Excluding large orders, new orders were 5.1 percent higher than in the previous month.

Foreign orders advanced 5.6 percent with euro area demand climbing 10.1 percent and non-euro area demand rising 2.7 percent. Domestic orders increased 4.0 percent.

By products, order for capital goods rose 2.1 percent and that for intermediate goods gained 9.2 percent. For consumer goods, orders went up 7.3 percent.

On a yearly basis, new order growth accelerated to 6.3 percent from 3.5 percent in February, data showed. Manufacturing turnover logged a monthly growth of 0.7 percent in March, in contrast to the 1.3 percent fall in February.

The recent S&P Global Purchasing Managers' survey results showed that Germany's manufacturing activity growth moderated in April from March's 46-month high. The factory PMI fell to 51.4 from 52.2 in March.

However, the survey suggested that goods producers expect the fallout from the war in the Middle East to eventually lead to lower production in the coming months.