German printing industry hard hit by pandemic

摘要

Bavarian association of printing and media companies (VDMB) has closely watched the consequences of the coronavirus pandemic for the printing and media industry. According to the association's management, the crisis has hit companies within the industry with a slight lag. Order volumes of nearly all companies plummeted when they had exhausted their backlogs. In real terms, the loss of orders translates into a fall in sales of 25 per cent and more for two-thirds of the companies in the second quarter. A quarter of the companies have even lost more than 50 per cent of their sales. "It is thanks to the swift and decisive response of political decision makers that the pandemic has not wiped away our companies," says Christoph Schleunung, chairman of VDMB. In his opinion, comprehensive and especially unbureaucratic fi- nancial assistance, the recourse to shorter working hours and other subsidies, tax deferrals and emergency loans secured the survival of companies and saved jobs.