The orders index for textile machinery compiled by ACIMIT, the Association Italian Textile Machinery Manufacturers, for the period from October to December 2016 rose by 5%, compared to the same period for the previous year.

In the last quarter of 2015, Italian textile machinery manufacturers received a boost from their export markets, but in domestic markets, positive order trends received a setback. 

The woodworking technology and wood-based materials industry keeps showing encouraging trends: preliminary figures for the current year speak for themselves, showing a fully positive sign for all major indexes.

The annual members assembly of ASSOCOMAPLAST – the Italian trade association belonging to CONFINDUSTRIA, which groups together over 160 makers of machinery, moulds and equip-ment for plastics and rubber – was held on Friday, 19 June at the Science and Technology Mu-seum in Milan.

Recovery in exports, which gained momentum particularly in the last quarter of 2013, with a last minute surge in December, allowed the Italian manufacturers to compensate for the lasting weakness in the domestic market which can be seen in Exhibit 1.

In Italy’s leading segments for instrumental mechanics industry, the graphic and paper machinery industry looks optimistic in correlation to the increasingly aggressive international competition and stagnant domestic market.

THE BIOTECH SECTOR IN ITALY: A GROWING AND PROMISING REALITY

For Italian textile machinery, 2012 begins with greater stability than the previous year. In fact, in the first quarter of the year, orders are up by a modest 2% compared to the last three months of 2011.

Exports of Italian machinery have risen 37% during the first quarter of 2011, compared with the same period last year, according to the Association of Italian Textile Machinery Manufacturers (ACIMIT). Compared with growth during 2010, the number of Italian exports has increased by 27%. Italian machinery manufacturers will be looking to build on this success at ITMA in September.

The Italian plastics and rubber machinery and equipment manufacturers association Assocomaplast said the sector saw production value increase by more than 9% in 2010 - higher than the 8% growth figure predicted in December last year. The association says overall production value, according to information from its 170 members, increased 9.1% to €3.6bn.