Falling orders, a strong euro, and high oil prices have put Germany’s manufacturers in a tight spot, but they are responding to the challenge and are better placed to handle the global slowdown than their euro zone peers.
The recent news flow from the manufacturing sector has made for grim reading: orders fell for the sixth month in a row in May, when industry output and manufacturing sales also fell.
Add to the slew of weak data news that industrial conglomerate Siemens plans to cut some four percent of its workforce worldwide, and the picture appears to darken.
However, the Siemens example shows that German companies are taking steps to shape up. Widespread restructuring in recent years prepared German manufacturers well for the global economic slowdown—a trend many are responding to with fresh cost cuts.
Source: Reuters
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