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city has issued a total of RMB4.261 billion of loans, benefiting global competitiveness of EU industry.
790 market entities, with a weighted average interest rate of According to Eurostat, seasonally adjusted GDP increased
about 2.53 percent of loans, directly reducing financing cost by 0.3 percent in the EU in the first quarter of 2024 compared
of borrowers by RMB101 million. with the previous quarter. Compared with the same quarter

of the previous year, seasonally adjusted GDP increased by
EU 0.6% in the EU in the first quarter of 2024.
Imports from tropical countries shifting away from However, manufacturing in Europe’s industrial heartland
primary wood products has continued to weaken this year. Eurostat's industrial
Total EU27 imports of tropical wood and wooden furniture production index for the eurozone remains below its 2021
of 598,500 tonnes in the first five months of this year were level and it is currently trending lower.
16 percent down compared to the same period last year. In S&P Global’s eurozone manufacturing purchasing managers
value terms, EU27 imports were down 12 percent to US$1296 index (PMI), a rough real-time proxy for activity in the sector,
million during the five-month period. fell to a seven-month low of 45.6 in July.

After falling to the lowest levels ever recorded in the first In Germany the indicator came in at 42.6, a three-month
quarter this year, EU27 imports of tropical products recovered low, while in France it fell for a second straight month to
some ground in April and May. Import value during those two 44.1. Anything under 50 is contractionary territory.
months was back to the level typical before the Covid-19 As for construction, the HCOB Eurozone Construction
pandemic, although import quantity was still below that level. PMI dropped to 41.8 in June from 42.9 in May, signalling a
Most of the recovery in EU27 imports of tropical wood marked contraction in output across the sector. Construction
products in April and May this year was due to furniture production levels continued to fall across all three of the

products. Imports of primary and secondary processed tropical major eurozone countries in June.
wood products remained at a very low ebb during this period. German firms faced the greatest slump in performance,
This shift in the balance of imports from lesser processed despite the contraction in output easing to the least marked
to more processed products has contributed a significant rise since August 2023.
in the unit value of tropical wood products imported into the At the same time, faster reductions were observed in
EU27 so far this year. the French and Italian construction sectors, with the former
The average unit value of EU27 tropical wood product seeing its sharpest fall in output since March, and the latter
imports was around US$2250 per tonne in the three months posting its strongest drop in nearly two years.
to May 2024, not far short of the all-time high of US$2450 per

tonne during the pandemic and well above average values of
around US$1750 per tonne prevailing before the pandemic. PFEIFFERV

Signs that EU economic recovery may be stalling
After economic stagnation in 2023, the EU economy seemed
to be recovering well in the first quarter of this year.
But less encouraging data from the EU manufacturing

sector in the second quarter has since dampened expectations
of a swift rebound and led to more soul searching about the