December 18th, 20914 (Milan, Italy): Assocomaplast (the Italian trade association, belonging to CONFINDUSTRIA, which groups to-gether some 170 machinery manufacturers) has compared ISTAT foreign trade data for January-September of the current year with data for the same period in 2013 and confirms further growth in both imports and exports. Exports rose by over 4% while purchases from abroad grew by over 7%. This has also led to a consolidation (+3%) of an already strong balance of trade. However, we must underscore that the positive trend in exports, traditional driver for Italian