Germany's machinery exports fell by 22.9 percent year-on-year to 35.2 billion euros (41.98 billion U.S. dollars) in the second quarter (Q2) of 2020, the Mechanical Engineering Industry Association (VDMA) announced on Tuesday.
April and May "proved to be particularly weak months" due to restrictive measures to combat the COVID-19 pandemic, according to VDMA. In June, machinery exports already fell "less drastically" after the first travel and transport restrictions were eased.
"Companies have recently been able to breathe a sigh of relief in the export business," said VDMA chief economist Ralph Wiechers. "But it will still be a bumpy road back to normality."
Machinery exports from Germany in the first half of the year 2020 were 14.1 percent below the previous year's figure.
Machinery exports to countries of the European Union fell by 17.3 percent in the first six months of the year, while 11.3 percent less machinery was delivered to the rest of Europe, according to VDMA. Russia stood out as Germany's only top customer country to record a 4.5-percent increase in exports in the first half of the year.
The development of machinery exports to Germany's most important single markets, the United States and China, would "differ considerably," VDMA noted. In Q2, 23 percent less machinery from Germany was exported to the United States compared to the previous year. In contrast, business in China decreased by 7.9 percent.
In China, "we are observing an extremely robust economic recovery, especially in the industry," said Wiechers, adding that parts of Germany's mechanical engineering sector would record "significant growth in exports" to China.