German factory orders decline in August, despite expectations

New factory orders in the German industry dropped by 0.8% month-on-month in August, official figures from Destatis showed on Tuesday.

The market expectation was a monthly rise of 1.2% for August, while the July figure was upwardly revised to a 2.7% decrease.

The negative development of new orders in manufacturing was attributed to a significant decline in new orders for the automotive industry, which fell 6.4% month-on-month.

The new orders in the manufacture of computer, electronic and optical products (minus 11.5%) and in the pharmaceutical industry (minus 13.5%) also fell in August.

Meanwhile, new orders for the manufacture of fabricated metal products, except for machinery and equipment, rose 15.4%, the manufacture of other transport equipment increased 17.1%, and the manufacture of electrical equipment climbed 7.2% in August.

New orders for capital goods in the same month were down 1.5% and consumer goods fell 10.3%, while intermediate goods increased 3%.

On a yearly basis, factory orders posted an increase of 1.5% in August.