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The outlook for the industry remains subdued, with many Smaller steel mills struggling with poor operating margins.

Land acquisition issues in setting up greenfield projects, delays in environmental clearances, logistics support and external financing remain major issues

German steel producers and distributors are facing structural challenges, as lower steel prices and competition from Asia hit margins.

Insolvencies have decreased in 2014 and are expected to level off in 2015. The insolvency level in this segment is quite low.

Competition in the sector is high, and there are clear signs of price wars as the industry is struggling with overcapacity and weaker demand.

Structural overcapacity in the industry had a negative effect on businesses´ profit margins in 2014, and this negative trend is expected to continue in 2015.

Atradius identifies the most likely outcome of the UK’s in-out referendum set for 2017 and the sectors and countries most vulnerable to Brexit.

On 15 October 2015, Atradius Credit Insurance hosted a webinar that looked at the opportunities available for trade with Russia and how to safely transact your business.

In 2015, Australian business insolvencies are expected to increase slightly by 2% as economic growth slows down and the mining industry faces mounting troubles.

The insolvency outlook for 2015 has weakened and difficulties are expected to continue into 2016.

The sector benefits from higher machinery investments as the Japanese economic recovery is on track (GDP is expected to grow 1.0% in 2015 and 1.5% in 2016 after a modest contraction in 2014).

In 2015 production is expected to increase at around 2%, the same level as in 2014.

The machinery sector in Brazil is being severely impacted by an economic downturn (Brazilian GDP is expected to contract 1.5% in 2015).

Payments in the Czech machinery sector take around 40 days, with ‘days sales outstanding’ (DSO) for smaller businesses of about 50 days.

Compared to other US industries the rate of insolvencies is low in the machinery sector, and it is expected that business failures will level off or even decrease slightly (by about 1%) in H2 of 2015.

The outlook for the machinery industry is promising, as the Italian economy is expected to grow 0.6% in 2015 and 0.9% in 2016 after two years of contraction.

The machinery sector should benefit from the economic rebound in France, with GDP forecast to grow 1.1% in 2015 (after 0.2% in 2014) and stronger growth in industrial production and exports.

China’s machinery sector has seen high overcapacity: profits of machinery businesses will be squeezed further by fierce competition, as companies have to offer lower prices to keep market shares.

The Swedish machinery sector has seen many positive developments over the past few years and currently benefits from higher global demand.

Hungary has become a key production base for automotive majors such as Audi, Daimler (Mercedes-Benz), Suzuki and General Motors.