Germany’s machinery and plant producers are bracing themselves for a sharp downturn in production and job cuts.The reason they were hit by the heftiest drop in demand in 50 years in the fourth quarter of 2008. Production in the sector was set to fall by 7 per cent and up to 25,000 jobs could be shed this year as more companies were facing insolvency, VDMA, the German engineering organisation, said on Tuesday. “Because of our distinctive export orientation, we are confronted with unprecedented events,” Manfred Wittenstein, head of the VDMA, said.
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