By Maria Martinez April 8 (Reuters) - German industrial orders rose less than expected in February, growing by 0.9% on the previous month on a seasonally and calendar adjusted basis, the federal
Germany's February industrial orders up, albeit far below forecasts
Industrial Orders Performance and Economic Outlook
By Maria Martinez
April 8 (Reuters) - German industrial orders climbed in February from a month earlier but fell far short of expectations, underscoring less-than-robust business conditions for the country's manufacturers even before the start of the Iran war.
Orders rose 0.9% on a seasonally and calendar-adjusted basis, official data showed on Wednesday. That compares with expectations of a 2.0% increase in a Reuters poll, and follows a sharp slide of 11.1% in January.
Expert Insights on Order Trends
"The core order figure continues to show little more than a sideways trend," said Ralph Solveen, senior economist at Commerzbank.
Impact of Geopolitical Events and Government Spending
Analysts noted that it was still unclear how much damage the Iran war and surging fuel costs would inflict on industry. But they said the economy would benefit from public spending over the course of the year, citing a 500 billion euro ($585 billion)infrastructure fund, approved by the German government last year, as a key example.
Domestic and Foreign Orders Analysis
Domestic Orders Slump
DOMESTIC ORDERS SLUMP
Excluding large-scale contracts that are often unpredictable, new orders climbed 3.5% in February from a month earlier.
Three-Month Comparison and Sector Breakdown
The less volatile three-month on three-month comparison showed that new orders, including big ones, were 2.0% higher in December-February compared with the previous three months.
The first quarter is likely to show a decline of around 5% in new orders after a 9.9% surge in the fourth quarter, with large-scale orders accounting for much of the volatility, said Claus Vistesen, chief euro zone economist at Pantheon Macroeconomics.
February's rise in new orders owed much to strong gains for the auto, textiles and basic metals sectors. But orders declined for other transport equipment such as aircraft, ships and trains.
Foreign Orders Growth
Foreign orders were up 4.7%, with orders from the euro zone increasing 6.7% and orders from outside the euro zone rising 3.5%.
By contrast, domestic orders fell 4.4%.
Challenges Facing German Industry
"Sluggish domestic demand and structural problems in Germany as a business location are weighing on activity," said Jupp Zenzen, economic expert at the German chamber of commerce DIHK.
($1 = 0.8560 euros)
(Reporting by Maria Martinez; Additional reporting by Anastasiia Kozlova and Amir Orusov; Editing by Linda Pasquini and Edwina Gibbs)
