German industrial orders fell more than expected in April

By Maria Martinez

June 8 (Reuters) - German industrial orders fell more than expected in April, following a strong increase in March, when companies brought forward orders amid fears of price increases due to the war in Iran.

Orders declined by 3.8% on the previous month on a seasonally and calendar-adjusted basis, the national statistics office said on Monday.

A Reuters poll of analysts had pointed to a fall of 2%.

After revision of the provisional data, new orders in March increased by 4.5% on the month, instead of rising by 5.0%.

When large-scale orders are excluded, new orders were also 3.8% lower in April than in the previous month.

The less volatile three-month on three-month comparison showed that new orders in the period from February to April were 3.1% lower than in the previous three months.

Foreign orders were down 4.2% in April, with orders from the euro zone decreasing by 11.1% and orders from outside the euro zone rising by 0.8%.

Domestic orders declined by 2.9% on the month.

In the coming months, uncertainty about future developments in the Middle East is likely to continue to dampen demand for German industrial goods, said Ralph Solveen, senior economist at Commerzbank, adding that he expects the German economy to contract in the second quarter.

(Additional reporting by Isabela Kruczynska, editing by Friederike Heine and Thomas Seythal)