GERMANY – The German manufacturers of woodworking machinery doubled the growth outlook in 2017, by reaching a production of 3.2 billion, an increase of 10.4 percent compared to the previous year.

“We have set a record year and far exceeded the original forecast of 5 percent,” said Wolfgang Pöschl, Chairman of the Association of Woodworking Machinery during the General Assembly of the VDMA Trade Association in Leipzig. Pöschl was also optimistic about 2018: “We expect further growth of around 8 percent in the current year.” This would increase production in Germany to more than 3.4 billion euros.

The industry is confident that global mega trends such as digitization, sustainable construction and urbanization will maintain this favorable growth. The pressure of modernization is considerable, especially in industrialized countries. However, a reduction in momentum is expected due to the already very high level. This applies to Germany; as well as to the main export markets in Europe, North America and Asia.

The performance of exports was decisive in the positive result of the year. In general, exports in 2017 increased by 12.8 percent to 2.4 billion euros. This corresponds to an export quota of 74 percent. The main external markets for German wood processing machinery were again the USA and China, which imported 70 percent more machines from Germany than in 2016. The United States achieved a record demand of 350 million euros and shipments to China increased to 302 million euros.

France, Poland and Austria followed them with growth ratios of 10 percent each. In 2017 exports to Russia turned back into positive territory after two years of drought and reached a value of 95 million euros.

In the first quarter of 2018, there were slight start-up difficulties in exports, with a drop of almost 3 percent compared to the same period of the previous year as they reached 482 million euros. Shipments to France, Great Britain and Switzerland fell and, on the contrary, the main markets of China and the USA grew again by 31 and 49 percent, respectively.

In 2017 Germany imported wood processing machinery worth 511 million euros (+ 8 percent), another record. Imports from Poland and the Czech Republic, in particular, grew at an above-average rate of 39 and 20 percent, respectively. Poland was the second most important supplier country after China.