Association news
Intralogistics sector on course for growth
The pandemic year 2020 has slowed down German manufacturers of conveyor technology and intralogistics more than estimated at the beginning of 2021. However, the trade association expects stable growth for the current year.
While the VDMA Materials Handling and Intralogistics Association was still forecasting a decline in production volume of around 10% in February, the confirmed data now shows a drop of 13% for 2020. This puts the total production volume for 2020 at 21.3 billion euros. The trade association expects stable growth for the current year. "Between January and April 2021 alone, incoming orders were 27% higher than in the same period last year, and in some product areas even significantly higher. Compared to spring 2019, incoming orders are also 15 percent higher on average," says Gordon Riske, Chairman of the Executive Board of the VDMA Materials Handling and Intralogistics Association and CEO of the KION Group.
This development encourages the trade association to raise its growth forecast for the German intralogistics sector for 2021 from eight to ten percent. The production volume of the German intralogistics industry would therefore increase to 23.4 billion euros.
Exports are still lagging somewhat behind the positive trend. In the first three months of 2021, almost seven percent fewer materials handling and intralogistics products were exported abroad than in the same period last year. Overall, the export volume in 2020 was 16% lower than in 2019. With an export volume of 14.2 billion euros, Germany remained the world export champion for the intralogistics sector last year. "The German intralogistics sector has a very strong international focus. Accordingly, the pandemic has also had a negative impact here. Based on the current order situation, we assume that exports will also recover in the coming months," predicts Riske.
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