The business performance of the Demag Cranes Group recovered significantly in the financial year. As a result of the improved economic environment, order volume increased in all three segments.

The Industrial Cranes segment reported a positive development in business, in line with the general trend in the economy. Order intake has improved steadily since the first quarter of the financial year. Our customers began to order components again early on; then demand for our Process and Standard Cranes picked up again from the third quarter.

Business in the Port Technology segment is dependent on worldwide cargo volumes and growth in container handling. In a welcome development, orders improved here too in financial year 2009/2010. Demand for our versatile Mobile Harbour Cranes in particular increased substantially. Our customers returned to making replacement investments in the reporting period; in the case of expansion investments, however, they remained reluctant, since terminals are still operating at relatively low capacity. With regard to major new automated terminal projects, we have re-entered talks with several port and terminal operators. However, we did not generate any specific orders for automated products in the financial year.

The Services segment also benefited from the improved economic situation. Demand for spare parts also rose markedly in line with more intensive utilisation of cranes by our customers. Furthermore, we sold significantly more refurbishment services in the fourth quarter than in the same period a year earlier.