German toolmakers register rapid growth in exports to China

Since last year, China has been the most important export market for precision tool machining. LMT has already gotten in place as a partner for precision tool machining in the Middle Kingdom. The photo shows the LMT building in Nanjing.

A 21% increase in sales compared to the previous year and total sales of 10.2 billion euros represent a record year for German companies. According to the industry association, the product areas of cutting tools and clamping tools benefited most from the generally positive development in automotive engineering, which has also been able to present similarly successful results.

China becomes biggest trading partner

Taking a closer look at the VDMA statistics reveals some rather interesting results. For example, sales in the Chinese market have increased enormously. For the first time ever the country has become the most important export country for the German precision tool industry. Companies in this sector generated total sales of roughly 504 million euros here (in the USA, the second most important market, the sales figure was 502 million euros), which represents an increase of 58%. One year earlier, total sales only amounted to 337 million euros. Other important foreign markets are the Netherlands, France, Italy and Austria.

Managers at the VDMA expect 2012 to bring lower growth than last year at 7%. What are the reasons for this trend? According to a VDMA press release, on one hand, the important customer industries also anticipate a slowdown in economic demand; on the other, German companies are already working at near full capacity with their current sales levels.