Falling export demand dented Germany's key mechanical engineering sector in October, the VDMA industry federation said Monday.

 

The manufacture of machine tools is an important part of Germany's industrial and export performance.

 

Overall incoming orders were down by 10 percent in October compared with the level in same month in 2012, VDMA said in a statement, with export orders tumbling by 14 percent and domestic orders down by 2.0 percent.

 

"The decline in foreign orders is primarily attributable to slim demand from non-euro members and is possibly a reaction to currency turbulence in a number of developing countries," said the federation's chief economist Ralph Wiechers.

 

"Orders from the euro partner countries fared better," he added.

 

Taking a three-month comparison to iron out short-term fluctuations, overall orders were down by 4.0 percent in the period from August to October, with foreign orders falling by 8.0 percent, while domestic orders rose by 6.0 percent, VDMA calculated.