The assessment of the current business situation has reached a new historic high for companies in the German supplier industry. At the same time, the classification of the opportunities for the medium-term development reveals the realism typical of the supply industry: the expectations are no longer exorbitant. For the past quarter, the Suppliers’ Union points to limiting factors such as capacity bottlenecks and the development of raw material prices. In addition, signals from the most important customer industry, road vehicle manufacturer, that for the current year 2018 potential growth rates could be very modest: the first signs are mounting that the economic summit cross could come in sight.

The Business Climate Index Suppliers Industry is determined by the Suppliers’ Union (ArGeZ) in cooperation with the Ifo Institute, Munich. It is based on a survey of around 600 companies and covers the foundry industry, plastics processing, steel and metal processing, non-ferrous metal industry, rubber industry and technical textiles.

The chart, with corrected seasonally adjusted data, is available for download at www.argez.de.

Source: PresseBox