FRANKFURT, April 1 (Reuters) - German engineering exports to the United States, their top destination, are likely to slow this year due to drastically lower fracking investments, a weaker global economy and a euro-dollar rate stabilisation, an industry association said.
Three-quarters of German engineering firms are confident their exports to the United States will rise again this year, according to 200 responses the VDMA association collected in a survey in January and February that was published on Friday.
But the VDMA, which represents large engineering companies such as Siemens as well as thousands of medium-sized industrial goods makers, said it expected only a moderate increase this year after an 11 percent jump in 2015.
"The American market does not offer grounds for euphoria," it said in a statement. "But the engagement of German engineering firms in America is not short-term."
The United States became the biggest market for German engineering exports last year, with exports rising to 16.8 billion euros ($19.1 billion), while exports to China fell 6 percent to 10.3 billion euros.
The United States also became Germany's top trading partner overall last year, with exports reaching a record 114 billion euros, overtaking exports to France.
The biggest factor driving growth in exports this year is likely to be demand from U.S. automakers and their suppliers, the VDMA said.
It said it saw high demand for power train engineering, materials handling, construction equipment, agricultural engineering, machine tools, and food technology and packaging.
($1 = 0.8780 euros) (Reporting by Georgina Prodhan; Editing by Dale Hudson)