Brussels, 24/07/2008 (Agence Europe) - In May 2008, the euro area industrial new orders index fell by 3.5% compared with the previous month. In the EU27, new orders decreased by 4.7% in May 2008 after growing by 3.6% in April. Excluding ships, railway and aerospace equipment industrial new orders declined by 2.5% in the euro area and by 2.4% in the EU27. Compared with May 2007, industrial new orders fell by 4.4% in the euro area and by 2.8% in the EU27. Total industry new orders, excluding ships, railway and aerospace equipment, dropped by 4.0% and by 2.3% respectively.
In terms of monthly changes, new orders for chemicals and chemical products fell by 0.5% in both the euro area and the EU27. Manufacturing of basic metals & fabricated metal products decreased by 2.4% and 1.9% respectively, electrical and electronic equipment dropped by 3.0% and by 4.5%, while manufacturing of machinery and equipment declined by 4.1% and 7.7%. Textiles and textile products fell by 4.2% and by 1.7%, and transport equipment decreased by 7.0% and 8.5%.
In May 2008 compared with May 2007, new orders for basic metals and fabricated metal products increased by 0.9% in the euro area and by 1.6% in the EU27. Chemicals and chemical products fell by 0.9% in the euro area, but grew by 2.3% in the EU27. Manufacturing of electrical and electronic equipment dropped by 2.8% and 2.5% respectively, and machinery and equipment decreased by 6.3% in the euro area and by 3.9% in the EU27. Manufacturing of textiles and textile products declined by 8.6% and 6.4% respectively. Transport equipment fell by 10.1% in the euro area and by 7.2% in the EU27. (A.B./transl.rt)