Business

Italian textile machinery orders from abroad rise, Italian domestic market dull

Orders for Italian textile machinery for 2014 third quarter show growth, thanks to demand from foreign markets. The Italian textile machinery makers are concerned about the situation in the domestic market.

For the third quarter of 2014, orders for Italian textile machinery grew 4% compared to the previous quarter. The rise in orders was driven mainly by orders from foreign markets, where for the period under consideration an increase of 9% was reported. The Italian domestic market remains stagnant.

Commenting on the economic data, ACIMIT president Raffaella Carabelli emphasised how the results achieved in foreign markets are evidence of a strengthened competitive capacity on the part of Italian companies. However, this does not hide the great concern felt by the entire sector for the downward trend in Italy.

A sure sign of the difficulties the Italian textile and garments industry is experiencing at home also lies in the import data for textile machinery. For the first half of the year, machinery imported from abroad dropped 3% compared to the same period last year.

“2014 will close on a positive note solely thanks to foreign demand,” adds Carabelli. The goal is already set for 2015, when ITMA, the industry’s premier trade show, will be held in Milan, from November 12-19. ACIMIT’s president concludes, “We’re hoping that this major event will act as a catalyst for renewed investments in Italy as well.”

In the meantime, approximately one year away from ITMA 2015, a sign of confidence on the part of Italian businesses in the positive market trend is demonstrated by the increased number of Italian exhibitors (358, +11% compared to the last edition of ITMA, held in Barcelona in 2011), and above all by the surface area reserved by Italian companies (+40%).

For Italian textile machinery, top three markets were China flowed by Turkey and India. China remained at top with Euro 159 million during Jan-July 2014 period which is a drop of 18% in value terms. On the other hand, machinery exports to Turkey grew 15% to Euro 140 million and to India export grew 1% to Euro 73 million during Jan-July 2014.