--German Mar manufacturing orders volume down 4.4% vs Feb
--German Q1 manufacturing orders fall first time since Q4 1998
--German Mar manufacturing orders volume unadj down 3.0% on yr
--German Mar foreign orders volume down 7.0% vs Feb
--German Mar domestic orders volume down 2.3% vs Feb
--W German Mar manufacturing orders down 4.2% vs Feb
--E German Mar manufacturing orders down 6.5% vs Feb
--MOF says German orders plunge on world economic cooling
--German MOF: Upward correction to March orders can be expected

Frankfurt, May 7 (BridgeNews) - The volume of German manufacturing orders dropped for the third month running as foreign demand shrank. Manufacturing orders plunged 4.4% in March from February, with foreign orders falling 7.0%, according to provisional data released Monday by the German Finance Ministry.
In quarterly comparison, orders contracted for the first time since the fourth quarter of 1998, when the Asian crisis curbed demand. * * *
Manufacturing orders were forecast to decline in March, but only slightly, with a survey of economists conducted by Bridge News and Bridge Fokus Deutschland pegging orders down 0.3 in March from February. "As a result of worldwide economic cooling down, demand for German industry products has declined clearly," the Finance Ministry stated. Foreign orders were especially heavily affected, domestic orders nevertheless also contracted in March by 2.3%.
The ministry, however, said an upward revision to the March data can be expected.
Manufacturing orders in western Germany fell 4.2% following a 0.7% decline in February, while in eastern Germany, where monthly fluctuations are bigger, orders dived 6.5% after a 5.0% surge in the previous month. In an annual non-adjusted comparison, manufacturing orders were down 3.0% in March, after a 0.3% decline in February.
In the 2-month-comparison, which smoothes out some of the monthly fluctuations, German orders plunged 3.9% in February-March from December-January, the ministry said, with foreign orders showing a 6.6% drop and domestic orders declining 1.6%.
Among the individual sectors in the 2-month comparison,
export-orientated manufacturers of capital goods saw the largest drop in demand with orders plunging 5.9%. Orders for pre-production goods fell 2.9%, and durable and non-durable goods orders declined 1.6%. In the two-month comparison, orders in western Germany fell 4.0%, while in eastern Germany orders declined 1.7%.
Comparing February-March with the same two months a year ago, German manufacturing orders declined 1.7%, the ministry said, adding that last year rise in orders was particularly high because of big ticket orders. Manufacturing orders in the first quarter of this year fell 3.3% from the fourth quarter of last year, according to data released by the Bundesbank Monday. In the fourth quarter of 1998, manufacturing orders fell 2.6% from the previous quarter.
For a table of statistics on manufacturing orders, as provided by the Finance Ministry .