German exports edge up in May (Roundup)

Jul 9, 2009, 8:32 GMT

Berlin - German exports edged up by a seasonally-adjusted 0.3 per cent in May, the country's statistics office said Thursday.

The increase helps to compensate for the hefty 5.0-per-cent drop in German exports in April and adds to signs that the recession in Europe's biggest economy is starting to bottom out.

However, the May increase was less than the 1.5-per-cent rise forecast by economists.

Many economists also believe that as the world's leading export nation, Germany could enjoy a rather speedy recovery from recession on the back of a sustained upswing in global trade.

'It has always been clear that the German product specialisation would enable the economy to benefit from any pick-up in global activity,' said ING Bank economist Carsten Brzeski.

'German engineering and 'Made in Germany' will remain important assets in the future,' he said.

But underscoring the scale of the downturn that has engulfed the global economy over the last 8 months, German exports were down 24.5 per cent in May compared to the same month in 2008.

Releasing the figures Wednesday, the statistics office said German imports fell 2.1 per cent in May, compared to a 6-per-cent fall in April.

As a consequence, Germany's trade surplus in May widened to 9.6 billion euros (13.4 billion dollars) from 9.4 billion euros in the previous month.

Economists had forecast a 0.8-per-cent month on month increase in May imports. However, imports were 22.6 per cent lower in May than in the same month last year.

Key forward-looking economic sentiment indicators have already pointed to the slowdown in the German economy starting to bottom out with business confidence in the nation rising for the third consecutive month in June.