German engineering business robust but energy costs biting – VDMA

BERLIN (Reuters) – German engineering companies are in robust shape and a majority expect nominal sales growth this year and next, the VDMA engineering association said on Friday, adding that companies in the sector are preparing for energy shortages this winter.

Reporting the results of a survey of 641 member businesses, the VDMA said companies were increasingly worried about energy supply.

“At present, around 90 percent of companies in machinery and plant construction have no restrictions on their production due to problems in operational energy supply,” VDMA chief economist Ralph Wiechers said in a statement.

“But the outlook is darkening: 57 percent of the companies, i.e. more than more than one in two, expect the situation to worsen in the next six months,” he added.

(Writing by Paul Carrel, editing by Rachel More)