Roofing organization Swissmem announced on Thursday that the third quarter brought a significant return in incoming orders. These decreased by 12.4% compared to the previous year. Compared to the second quarter, orders fell by more than a fifth, mainly due to a lack of orders from abroad.
According to the association, Swissmem members are now much more pessimistic than at the beginning of the year. They say this is not surprising, given the purchasing manager indexes (PMIs) in the most important sales markets. Additionally, there are many risks and uncertainties that can intensify the downside trend. Swissmem particularly highlights the tense situation in electricity and gas supplies, geopolitical tensions, further interest rate hikes and the appreciation pressure on the Swiss franc.
The momentum in sales development also slows in the third quarter, but the numbers are still positive thanks to backlogs. Compared to the same quarter of the previous year, companies made 4.6% more turnover.
Looking at the full first nine months, the situation is still good according to Swissmem, but only because of the strong first half. Orders from January to September were 2.3 percent higher and sales 9.6 percent higher than the previous year.
The improvement was also reflected in the decline in capacity utilization: companies’ utilization was just under 90 percent in the third quarter. In the first quarter, it still peaked at just under 92 percent.
According to the Federal Customs Administration, the export figures are still in good shape nine months later. In total, the goods exported by the industry reached a value of 54 billion francs, an increase of 7 percent compared to the previous year. While exports to Asia increased the most, it was followed by the USA and Europe. In addition, there was no product group that exported less in the current year compared to the same period of the previous year.
However, according to Swissmem, the prospects are “cloudy”: “The Swiss industry has been clearly affected by the recession. Especially the strong decline in orders from abroad clearly shows this », Swissmem Director Stefan Brupbacher said. PMI has also seen a decline in most markets more and more clearly over the past two months. somehow points out.
“Right now there are almost no indicators pointing to a positive development. We must prepare ourselves for a difficult stage. “We hope that politicians will recognize the signs of the times and provide good framework conditions for us,” said Brupbacher. As is known, this includes the abolition of industrial tariffs by 2024 and the rapid opening of relations with Europe.
(SDA)