GERMANY – In the five years from 2014 to 2018, the production of German manufacturers of woodworking machinery increased from 2.4 billion euros to 3.4 billion euros. This growth has brought many companies to their capacity limits and delivery times have sometimes increased to more than a year.

“Despite the looming economic slowdown in several international markets, we expect to maintain this high level in 2019,” says Pekka Paasivaara, Chairman of VDMA (The German Mechanical Engineering Industry Association) Woodworking Machinery, at the “Ligna Preview” in Hanover in early February.

In the first three quarters of 2018, the export value of German manufacturers of woodworking machinery rose by four percent over the previous year to 1.7 billion euros. With a share of 58 percent, the markets in Europe absorbed most of the machinery (980 million euros).

The two most important export regions outside Europe were Asia with 348 million euros or minus seven percent and North America with 273 million euros, which corresponds to an increase of 20 percent.

At the country level, the US ranks first (€ 252 million, up 20 percent) in the export ranking, ahead of China (€ 241 million, up seven percent), Poland (€ 115 million), France (€ 77 million) and Austria (€ 70 million).