BERLIN, Feb 2 Reuters The downward trend in German engineering companies39; orders eased in December, as foreign customers helped offset weak domestic results amid ongoing uncertainty in Europe39;s largest economy, the VDMA association said on Friday.

December orders fell by 6 year on year, following a sharp 13 fall in November, said the VDMA.

Orders from abroad decreased by 3 in December and domestic orders by 13, it added.

For 2023 overall, orders were down 12, with domestic orders seeing a 11 decrease and foreign ones a 13 fall.

In the less volatile threemonth period from October to December, orders fell by 9 year on year.

VDMA chief economist Ralph Wiechers said there were signs that foreign orders were bottoming out. Domestic orders, on the other hand, are still on a downward course. It is therefore clearly too early to sound the allclear, he added.

In December, the VDMA lowered its 2024 production outlook to 4 from 2, pointing to fewer new orders as manufacturers burn through their backlog amid a stagnating global economy.

DECEMBER

CHANGE

overall

6 yy

of which German

13 yy

foreign

3 yy

OCT TO DEC

9 yy

of which German

15 yy

foreign

6 yy

Reporting by Bartosz Dabrowski, Editing by Rachel More

Source Reuters