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German mechanical and plant manufacturers achieved good results in exports during the first quarter. According to preliminary data, mechanical exports in the first quarter increased by 13.8% year-on-year nominally, reaching 51.3 billion euros. Adjusted for price factors, mechanical exports in the first quarter of this year grew by 4.4%. "The encouraging export growth was partly driven by inflation and partly due to supply chain recovery in many fields, allowing mechanical and equipment manufacturers to finally deliver to many customers and reduce substantial backlogs.
Exports to the US grew again significantly faster than exports to China. Mechanical exports to the most important export market, the US, increased by 26.5% year-on-year. In the first quarter of this year, German-made mechanical equipment exports to the US were approximately 6.9 billion euros. In comparison, German mechanical exports to China nominally increased only 2.9%, reaching 4.6 billion euros.
German mechanical exports to EU partner countries saw nominal growth of 10.4%, achieving double digits. Thus, their value exceeded 22.4 billion euros in the first quarter. Mechanical export developments to the five most important customer countries among the 27 EU nations are as follows: France grew 18.2%, Italy grew 10.6%, Netherlands grew 10.3%, Austria grew 1.6%, and Poland grew 11.6%. German mechanical exports to other European countries such as the UK (growing 14.8%) and Switzerland (growing 19.2%) also showed strong growth.
