Eastern Europe fuels growth for European machinery manufacturers

16 March 2006

Business conditions for the European Plastics and Rubber Machinery Manufacturing industry over the period July to December 2005 have improved, according to the latest EUROMAP Business Trends Survey. The organization says that new order income was certainly more buoyant than in the first half of the year with strongest growth reported in Eastern Europe. Of those companies active in Eastern Europe, 41% reported increased new order activity versus 12% experiencing declines. An encouraging revitalization was also evident in Western Europe, with 31% of companies reporting new order growth; just 17% reported a worsening new order situation for this region. Demand from China remained comparatively sluggish with 24% reporting growth and 21% reporting declines.