Journal (english)
With Business
Großansicht des Bildes mit der Bildunterschrift:
With Business
Flower Power for the Garden
Each summer German garden tool manufacturer Gardena has its hands full trying to keep up with demand. It started as a family-run business and was bought by a private equity firm in 2002. For the past year Gardena has been in the hands of Swedish company Husqvarna.
Bildunterschrift: Großansicht des Bildes mit der Bildunterschrift: The irrigation systems specialist sees its biggest growth opportunities in the professional garden care sector in countries with higher temperatures. Blossoming gardens need water, especially in the summer. Hobby gardeners looking for irrigation systems cannot fail to notice the products of Gardena. The Ulm-based company is the market leader in Europe. A flexible production model is one of the challenges Gardena faces - climate change is the other. The company hopes garden irrigation systems will continue to account for most of its sales. One solution is computer-driven irrigation. Gardena has developed systems that allow people to irrigate their gardens in the early morning hours when the temperatures are still low - and that helps conserves water.
Like its rivals, the sprinkler manufacturer likes the weather to be hot and dry. That's when business blossoms. So far management is as disappointed as most Germans, because this summer has been just far too wet in the country.
NUMBER CRUNCHER:
Bildunterschrift: Großansicht des Bildes mit der Bildunterschrift: 47,500,000 tons - that's the amount of coal Germany imported last year. It's also a new record, largely due to the growing energy demand of the country's steel industry. Steelmakers are buying more and more coal from countries like Poland, South Africa and Colombia, because coal mining in Germany is slowing down. Recently one of only eight remaining mines shut down. The era of coal mining in Germany looks set to come to an end.
