While governments and economists are still being mildly optimistic, the situation on most relevant markets has been deteriorating in the second half of 2012. It is feared that 2013 will even bring a significant downturn. As a matter of fact, in most cases, the management boards of multinational corporations draw attention to the reducing of profitability and turnover, as well as the significant damage over the entire economy, which seems to be influenced by the sovereign debt crisis that affects the eurozone. This fact - combined with the trend of the improper U.S. recovery and the slowdown in economic growth of China - will lead to a drastic reduction of the demand in the thermo-insulated joinery market. Therefore, the corporations must be prepared for the worst, in such way as Roto Group has to prepare for “strong headwind” on markets. Since the company is well prepared for these challenges, it expects to stay on track, explained Dr. Eckhard Keill, the construction supplier's CEO, to more than 50 journalists from 12 countries at the 7th International Trade Press Day held in November 2012 at Bad Mergentheim - Germany. According to Dr. Keill, the current situation proves that “reality couldn't care less about forecasts”. For the CEO of the Roto Frank AG, official prognoses predicting that the global economy in 2013 will be at least steady are “no more than wishful thinking”. Their greatest weakness is that they are unable to identify actual economic turning points at an early stage. Consumer confidence is the critical factor for this process and it has already, or will most likely, deteriorate significantly. The current crisis is actually a “prevailing crisis of consumer confidence”. It leads to an investment crisis, which in return leads to an economic crisis. This means that many international window and door markets will “have to sail in extremely stormy waters”. This will inevitably impact Roto. Thanks to the right strategic and operative decisions however, the company is optimistic that it will be able to “row against the tide”. “When markets are shrinking, stagnation can already be a great success”, explained Dr. Keill. This tendency was underpinned with European figures: according to the EU-Commission, consumer confidence hit a three-year low in October 2012. For further information and a detailed analysis of the current Fereastra issue, click here!