Analysis: Machine tools from Germany

Résumé du document

The machine tools sector is very huge for the industry, especially the automotive -36% of the machine tools market- and general engineering -26%- but also lots of various sectors such as metalworking, electronics, precision engineering, aeronautics... Indeed, machine tools can be used as means of production thanks to tools which can carve, cut, deform… a material. We, as everyday consumer, rarely realize the importance of this sector because we never see these machines.

Germany was told as one of the greatest producer of machine tools –with Japan and Italy– during decades. But the situation is changing. China taps more and more into the world market with its own machine tools. Nowadays, the largest consumers are –far ahead– China, and then Germany and the United States so that Germany can lose market shares and has to worry about this change.

That's why I am wondering: Will Germany still be a leader on the machine tools market as China is more and more influent on this market?
To answer this question, I will first present you the German machine tools field and then I will compare it to the Chinese one which fast develops.

Extraits

[...] Nowadays, the largest consumers are ahead– China, and then Germany and the United States so that Germany can lose market shares and has to worry about this change. That's why I am wondering: Will Germany still be a leader on the machine tools market as China is more and more influent on this market? To answer this question, I will first present you the German machine tools field and then I will compare it to the Chinese one which fast develops. The machine tools sector in Germany Germany: a great exporter Germany is well-known for its export skills in the world. [...]

[...] The automotive, chemical, biotechnology and machine tools sectors especially lead the German high-tech industry. That's why I have chosen to concentrate on the machine tools sector, which is the mainstay of the German industry and exports. Machine tools: a key sector for Germany The first German industry is for decades the machine tools sector which represents more than the third of its added-value. The others flagship products are automotive and chemicals. We can find the majority of the 350 machine tools manufacturers in Rhineland but also throughout all Germany with large groups –Trumpf and Gildemeister which are the second and third globally– and lots of small and medium companies. [...]

[...] Why China overtook Germany? It is partly because of the machine tools sector. I will develop the reasons in the next part. II/ Comparison with rising China China: a fast growing country, especially on the machine tools market China is the first consumer of machine tools in the world with more than billion. Why? because China has a very significant domestic demand. That's why, contrary to countries like Germany and Japan which export the majority of their production, China export less as it consume. [...]

[...] In 2007 and 2008, the machine tools sector in Germany achieved historical records of demand rise. The worldwide production and consumption increased as the amount of production was billion in 2007 and billion in 2008. Germany follows this tendency. It indicates its industrial power was a pretty good year for Germany, after a catastrophic year in 2009 because of the crisis with a production decrease of more than thanks to the strengths –which were weaknesses during the crisis– that I described in the first part. [...]

[...] The machine tools sector in Germany is very dependent on its exports. China was the only country which increased its importations of capital goods in 2009 with + Of course Germany get great results in 2010 but it was because the figures of 2009 were very low. So we have to be conscious of the difficulties which can still be there. We see nowadays that the European producers are making old bones in comparison to Asia as we saw it during the EMO 2009 in Milan -European machine tool exhibition-. [...]