Will this third consecutive month of rising exports be enough to give Italian equipment manufacturers a much-needed injection of confidence?
To be sure, statistically speaking at least, we can now catch a glimpse of the long-awaited re-covery in production (or at least a reversal of the downward trend), propelled precisely by exports which - as we well know - account for more than 65% of the Italian sector’s revenues.

The analysis by Assocomaplast (the Italian trade association, belonging to CONFINDUSTRIA, which groups together some 160 equipment makers) of the ISTAT figures for Italian foreign trade in the first quarter of this year in fact shows that exports are up by almost nine percentage points compared to January-March 2013. Extruders and blow moulding machines, to name just two of the most significant categories, showed especially strong growth. Contributing to this general rise in exports was the double-digit growth in sales to some key countries, first and foremost among which was China.

Other noteworthy positive changes were those for sales of Italian technology to destinations such as the Czech Republic, Mexico, the United States, Russia, and Turkey. Running counter to this positive trend, exports toward Brazil were down, while sales to India performed below average: +4%. Imports, meanwhile, continued weak – though to a lesser extent than in the previous months – reflecting a domestic Italian market that still hasn’t found its feet.

Exhibit 1 shows all the numbers broken down into each category.