Saw big demand uptick in all sectors in Q4
Orders grew much more strongly than revenues
Expects market to stay stable at start of 2022
Sees positive market momentum this year

ZURICH, Feb 3 Reuters ABB expects supply chain bottlenecks to ease during 2022, the Swiss engineering group said on Thursday, after shortages of semiconductors hurt its ability to deliver increasing orders during the fourth quarter.

The maker of fast chargers for electric vehicles and industrial drives for factories reported a 21 jump in orders as demand surged from machine builders, food manufacturers and general industry.

But revenues grew by only 8 as ABB battled shortages of key components such as semiconductor chips that have hit the rest of industry. 

ABB, which competes with Germany39;s Siemens and France39;s Schneider, is seeing strong demand as its customers ramp up production again after the pandemic.

The year has started very strongly, we have seen demand continue at this enormously high level, and we see a strong year in front of us, Chief Executive Bjorn Rosengren said.

ABB had already overcome shortages of steel and plastics, Rosengren said, but difficulty finding enough semiconductor chips affected all its 21 divisions, from factory robots to electric motors for ships,

The whole market is constrained, Rosengren told reporters.

Supplies will gradually improve through that year. It will be more tough at the beginning but by the second half we should be in good shape.

The…