Resource-rich Countries are Winners

Between 2004 and mid-2008, the German manufacturing sector faced significant additional costs due to rising prices for natural resources.

Spiraling energy prices and an oil price as high as 150 US-dollars per barrel put many companies under considerable pressure. However, demand from resource-rich countries grew as well and opened new business opportunities for exporting companies. An analysis of merchandise exports from Germany to countries rich with natural resources shows, nevertheless, no additional effects caused by the resource boom between 2004 and 2007. However, the growth rates of German exports to countries which mainly export natural resources were higher than those of exports to other countries. Total effects varied across industries with parts of the metal and electrical in­dustry benefiting more than others from the higher imports of resource-rich countries.