German engineering body scraps 2022 outlook: Report

BERLIN: Germany’s main engineering industry association has scrapped its 2022 production forecast, saying even a reduced estimate it made in March would no longer be met.

Inflation, COVID-19 lockdowns in China and supply chain disruptions were compounding a broader economic slowdown, VDMA President Karl Haeusgen told the Welt am Sonntag newspaper in an interview.

The association, which has over 3,400 members, initially predicted 2022 growth of 7 percent, before cutting that to 4 percent in March.

“But even that can no longer be sustained,” Haeusgen was quoted as saying. He did not give a new forecast.

“Above all, we are impacted by material shortages,” he said.

“The companies are short of semiconductors and a number of other electronic components,” he said.