European Steel Association EUROFER in latest Economic & Steel Market Outlook 2023-24 has outlined that European Mechanical Engineering activity is set to grow by 6.5% in 2022, but in 2023 it is expected to experience a mild recession of minus 0.2% as a result of the continued disruptions due to the ongoing war and high energy costs. Their negative effects on the sector's output will be particularly visible in the first two quarters of 2023. Conditional on overall positive developments in the economic cycle in the second half of 2023, the sector is expected to achieve growth again in 2024 by 3.1%.EUROFER said “The persisting downside factors affecting the industrial outlook, particularly the unprecedented rise in energy prices and production costs since the summer of 2022, are set to take their toll on the sector's output over the course of 2023, at least over the first two quarters of the year when output is expected to contract for two consecutive quarters. Eventually, the sector is expected to return to positive territory in the second half of 2023.”After a sharp fall of 11.8% in 2020 due to the pandemic, which had followed a tiny drop of 0.1% in 2019 due to global trade tensions and the downturn in manufacturing sectors, mechanical engineering output rebounded robustly by 16.0% in 2021, thanks to the sharp recovery of industrial sectors in the EU, particularly over the first half of the year.
European Steel Association EUROFER in latest Economic & Steel Market Outlook 2023-24 has outlined that European Mechanical Engineering activity is set to grow by 6.5% in 2022, but in 2023 it is expected to experience a mild recession of minus 0.2% as a result of the continued disruptions due to the ongoing war and high energy costs. Their negative effects on the sector's output will be particularly visible in the first two quarters of 2023. Conditional on overall positive developments in the economic cycle in the second half of 2023, the sector is expected to achieve growth again in 2024 by 3.1%.EUROFER said “The persisting downside factors affecting the industrial outlook, particularly the unprecedented rise in energy prices and production costs since the summer of 2022, are set to take their toll on the sector's output over the course of 2023, at least over the first two quarters of the year when output is expected to contract for two consecutive quarters. Eventually, the sector is expected to return to positive territory in the second half of 2023.”After a sharp fall of 11.8% in 2020 due to the pandemic, which had followed a tiny drop of 0.1% in 2019 due to global trade tensions and the downturn in manufacturing sectors, mechanical engineering output rebounded robustly by 16.0% in 2021, thanks to the sharp recovery of industrial sectors in the EU, particularly over the first half of the year.