Manufacturers revise investment outlook

In the autumn of 2008, manufacturers estimated investments to drop by 2 percent relative to 2007. The value of investments was estimated at 7.8 billion euro.

In the spring of 2008, manufacturers were quite optimistic about their investments in 2008. They expected an 11 percent growth compared with 2007. It is not unusual for companies to adjust their expectations after some time, as they gain more insight into delays, postponements or acceleration of expected investment projects.

For 2008, all sectors in manufacturing revised their expectations downwards, with the exception of the oil refining industry. Entrepreneurs in this sector anticipated  a drop in investments by 32 percent six months ago, but in autumn they expected a 15 percent increase. With 34 percent, manufacturers in the chemical industry also anticipate an increase for 2008.

Manufacturers in all other sectors of industry expect to invest less in 2008 than in 2007. Companies in the metal and electro-technical industry in particular drastically revised their expectations for 2008. They now expect a 16 percent drop in investments. This is in sharp contrast with last spring when they anticipated a 17 percent increase for 2008.

Manufacturers expect investment growth to be limited to 1 percent in 2009. The survey on investments by manufacturing companies was conducted in September 2008.

Investments by manufacturing companies (2009 based on expectations)