The AlixPartners Manufacturing Overview: CY2026 – Q2 is now available, providing an analytical look at the sector's performance as demand strengthens across major markets while elevated input costs continue to compress margins.
This quarter reveals a conversion problem, not a demand problem. New orders climbed across the United States, Germany, and China, with exports from Germany and China returning to pre-2025 levels, yet revenue growth across nine of eleven industry groups produced almost no margin expansion as raw material, energy, and freight costs absorbed the gains. Capacity utilization remains below long-run averages in both the US and China, leaving the 2022 to 2024 capacity build as a fixed-cost overhang rather than an advantage.
