GERMANY – Production in the woodworking machinery industry in Germany reached a record EUR 3.6 billion in 2022, an increase of 8.3 percent over the previous year.

“Even though falling order intake now points to a decline in production in the current year 2023, woodworking machinery manufacturers are entering the Ligna trade show (May 15-19 in Hannover) full of optimism. After a four-year break, there is finally another opportunity to show the world the concentrated innovative power of the industry,” explained Dr. Bernhard Dirr, Managing Director of VDMA Woodworking Machinery, a few days before the start of the show. “Despite considerable problems in the supply chains and despite the global uncertainties, the industry is moving at a high level and is looking ahead with confidence overall,” added Dirr.

In the past 2022, the export value of German manufacturers of woodworking machinery rose by 4.5 percent year-on-year to EUR 2.4 billion. The largest individual markets were again the USA (EUR 307 million, up 20 percent) and the People’s Republic of China (EUR 255 million, down 1 percent), followed by France (EUR 154 million, up 14 percent), Poland and Austria.

Overall, a pronounced boom phase is coming to an end for many customer industries, which experienced a peak during the Corona pandemic. In addition, financing investments is becoming much more expensive, which often leads to a reluctance to place orders. On the other hand, the pressure to innovate is undiminished, if only because of the shortage of skilled workers, and digitization and automation are therefore massively driving customer industries, which is reflected in the topics set at LIGNA 2023. Another important trend topic is construction with wood, which is enjoying growing demand and which is why the general decline in construction activity in Europe is not affecting manufacturers in this segment as much.

A slowdown in construction activity and consumer spending can be observed worldwide, which is also reducing the capacity utilization of machine manufacturers’ customers. Due to the increased costs in the wood industry, the margin situation has also deteriorated, which also contributes to the reluctance to invest. In this confusing mixed situation, the trade association assumes a normalization of incoming orders in the current year 2023, following the exceptional record year 2022. The forecast for production is therefore minus 5 percent in 2023.