— By Plasteurope.com staff — 

Business sentiment in Germany continued to improve in July. The Ifo Institute’s (Munich, Germany; www.ifo.de) Business Climate Index rose by 0.9 points compared with the previous month, to 85.6 points.

Although businesses were less satisfied with their current situation (down 0.5 points to 86.5 points), they raised their expectations (up 2.4 points to 86.7 points). “Despite the uncertain situation in the Persian Gulf, the German economy is showing less pessimism,” said Ifo president Clemens Fuest.

The improved expectations led to a rise in the sentiment barometer across all sectors of the economy. In the main construction sector, fewer firms complained of a lack of orders, meaning that the current situation also contributed to an increase in the corresponding index (up 2.4 points to -20.4 points).

In the manufacturing sector, however, the assessment of the current situation acted as a drag, even though demand picked up and material shortages eased. Overall, the index rose by 2.1 points to -10.7 points.

Related: Construction, plastics-related sectors hope for improvement in second half of year

The same applies to the index for the rubber and plastics processing sector – it rose by 3.6 points, to -8.8 points. Here, too, the effect of improved expectations (up 12.2 points to -11 points) outweighed that of the deteriorating assessment of the current situation (down 6.7 points to -6.4 points).