Material shortages ease further for German manufacturers - Ifo

BERLIN (Reuters) - Material shortages eased further in Germany's manufacturing sector towards the end of the year, according to a survey by the Ifo economic institute published on Tuesday.

In December, 50.7% of the companies surveyed reported problems, down from 59.3 percent in November, the third consecutive fall, the survey showed.

"Shortages appear to be easing in many industries," which would shore up the economy in the months ahead, Klaus Wohlrabe, Ifo's head of surveys, said.

"However, depending on the development of the corona situation in China, there may be setbacks in the bottlenecks again," he added.

In almost all manufacturing industries, the number of companies experiencing material shortages fell, though some of the figures were still well above their long-term average, the survey showed.

Manufacturers of machinery and equipment and the automotive industry were still the hardest hit.

(Reporting by Kirsti Knolle; Editing by Andrew Heavens)