General economic situation
Global market for material handling equipment by region in 2008
Economic growth of select economic regions (GDP1) in %
| Region | 2008 | 2007 |
|---|---|---|
| World | 3.7 | 5.0 |
| USA | 1.3 | 2.0 |
| China | 9.0 | 11.9 |
| Eurozone | 0.7 | 2.6 |
| Germany | 1.3 | 2.5 |
| 1) Gross domestic product. | Source: Commerzbank. |
The global financial crisis began to affect the world economy in the 2008 reporting period, accelerating the economic downturn witnessed the world over in the second half of the year, which led to a recession in a number of regions. As a result, the pace of growth seen in the preceding year slowed substantially. Energy and raw material prices, which were already high, again hit record levels, before declining markedly in the second six months. This was especially true as regards crude oil prices, which had a dampening effect on the global economic trend. Steel and non-ferrous heavy metal displayed similar price developments. In 2008, the world economy grew by 3.7 per cent (prior year: 5.0 per cent). Once again, the strongest growth stimuli came from Asia, despite its waning momentum, whereas economic expansion in the USA and Europe weakened significantly compared to the previous year. Asia again benefited from China, although the latter country’s growth rate slipped somewhat, amounting to 9.0 per cent (prior year: 11.9 per cent). Economic expansion in the USA dropped to 1.3 per cent (prior year: 2.0 per cent). Growth in Eurozone countries slowed to 0.7 per cent (prior year: 2.6 per cent). Countries of major importance to Jungheinrich in terms of sales such as Italy, France and Spain contributed to this deterioration. Their economic performance ranged between minus 0.5 and plus 1.1 per cent (prior year: between 1.4 and 3.7 per cent). Gaining 0.7 per cent, the UK recorded weak growth as well (prior year: 3.0 per cent). Some countries in Central and Eastern Europe continued to expand faster, although they also experienced a downward trend. Germany’s economic output rose by a mere 1.3 per cent in the period under review (prior year: 2.5 per cent). Most notably, exports and investments plummeted due to the global economic crisis, whereas the decline experienced by imports was relatively moderate, at 4.4 per cent (prior year: 5.0 per cent). Investment in property, plant and equipment decreased from 6.9 per cent to 5.3 per cent, and exports declined from 7.5 per cent to just 3.2 per cent. The clouding economic environment had a strong impact on the German mechanical engineering sector, which depends on exports to a great degree. Foreign demand dropped by a total of 7 per cent (prior year: up 18 per cent), with domestic orders falling by 6 per cent (prior year: up 11 per cent). In contrast, production was increased by about 5 per cent (prior year: up 11 per cent).