German construction equipment manufacturers are more optimistic at the middle of the year than they were at the beginning ? the 2015 forecast corrected upwards to growth of 4 per cent according to Johann Sailer, Chairman of the VDMA Association for Construction Equipment and Building Material Machines. Sailer says, ?There has been double-digit growth in turnover by member companies throughout the sector in the first five months. Despite a damper in May, construction equipment manufacturers are therefore correcting their forecast upwards for 2015. An increase in turnover of 4 per cent to ?8.7 billion seems achievable.?

According to Salier good growth is coming from Saudi Arabia and the Emirates. China, India, Southeast Asia and Latin America, in particular, are falling short of expectations. When categorised by product group, there are significant differences in development. While demand for earthmoving machinery is somewhat disappointing ? heavy machinery in particular currently has few customers due to the global mining crisis ? the trend is continuing upwards in concrete technology. The current situation is still good in road construction machinery, too. After a strong start to the year, incoming orders throughout the sector are currently at minus 2 per cent compared with the previous year. However, turnover is clearly positive.