Large industrial companies around the world are defying fears of a “double-dip” recession, reporting signs of increasing strength in demand and striking a cautiously optimistic note about the growth of the global economy.

　　世界各地大型工業(yè)企業(yè)正克服有關(guān)“雙底衰退”的憂慮，報告各種需求增強跡象，對全球經(jīng)濟增長表現(xiàn)出謹慎樂觀的態(tài)度。

　　Many industrial groups reported better-than-expected profits for the second quarter and raised their full-year growth forecasts. However, big manufacturers could be held back by their inability to secure vital components from supply chains weakened by the downturn and unable to increase production fast enough to meet demand.

　　許多工業(yè)集團公布的第二季度利潤都勝于預(yù)期，并調(diào)高了全年增長預(yù)測。不過，由于供應(yīng)鏈在經(jīng)濟衰退期間受到了削弱，大型制造商在獲得重要零部件方面可能遇到困難，從而無法及時擴大生產(chǎn)以滿足需求。

　　Caterpillar, FedEx and Honeywell in the US, Honda and Hitachi in Japan, and Siemens in Europe all raised their outlooks last week, while results from companies such as Boeing, Nissan, BASF and VW exceeded analysts' consensus forecasts.

　　美國的卡特彼勒(Caterpillar)、聯(lián)邦快遞(FedEx)和霍尼韋爾國際公司(Honeywell)，日本的本田(Honda)和日立(Hitachi)，以及歐洲的西門子(Siemens)上周均上調(diào)了增長預(yù)測，而波音(Boeing)、日產(chǎn)(Nissan)、巴斯夫(BASF)和大眾(VW)等公布的業(yè)績均超過分析師的共識預(yù)測。

　　Yet some suppliers to large industrial multinationals that cut costs sharply in the early part of the downturn are finding it hard to increase production capacity rapidly, while many report that financing remains expensive and difficult to access. Manufacturing supply chains in the US and Europe are showing signs of straining to cope with demand.

　　不過，一些跨國大型工業(yè)企業(yè)的供應(yīng)商由于在經(jīng)濟衰退初期大舉削減了成本，目前正發(fā)現(xiàn)自己很難迅速提高產(chǎn)能，許多企業(yè)表示目前融資仍很昂貴且難以獲得。美國和歐洲的制造業(yè)供應(yīng)鏈均出現(xiàn)了緊張應(yīng)對需求的跡象。

　　“The problems that suppliers are facing in this upturn are noticeably bigger than in the comparable stages of the recoveries we saw after previous recessions,” said Daniel Corsten, a supply-chain expert at IE business school in Madrid.

　　“與以往衰退后復(fù)蘇的相應(yīng)階段相比，在本次復(fù)蘇中，供應(yīng)商面臨的問題明顯大得多，”馬德里IE商學(xué)院供應(yīng)鏈專家丹尼爾•考斯汀(Daniel Corsten)表示。

　　Some 51 per cent of big US manufacturers said they experienced “significant supply chain disruptions” in the second quarter, while 42 per cent of small and medium-sized suppliers said they had received queries or work from larger companies in need of urgent assistance because of supply chain problems, according to a survey by MFG.com, an online marketplace for manufacturers.

　　根據(jù)面向制造商的在線市場MFG.com所做的一項調(diào)查，美國約51%的大型制造商表示，在第二季度出現(xiàn)過曾經(jīng)歷“嚴(yán)重的供應(yīng)鏈中斷”；而42%的中小型供應(yīng)商表示，接到過大型企業(yè)因供應(yīng)鏈問題要求緊急協(xié)助的征詢或業(yè)務(wù)。