In the fourth quarter of 2015, Italian textile machinery manufactures saw growth in orders index in the foreign markets, but in domestic front the positive orders trend received a setback over the past six months, as per the Association of Italian Textile Machinery Manufacturers (ACIMIT). This was seen mainly due to a boost in exports to foreign markets.

ACIMIT president Raffaella Carabelli said that the positive result may be further strengthened over the first half of 2016 if the numerous contacts confirmed at ITMA 2015 materialize. As for the domestic market, they weren’t expecting this sort of setback after two positive quarters. However, the year-end trade fair has confirmed the many signs of recovery, even for Italy, which now need to be verified in early 2016.

Based on the survey conducted by ACIMIT, during October-December 2015, the order intake for machinery manufacturers increased by 2 percent compared to the same period of previous year.

The value of the index for October-December 2015 stood at 89.1 points as against a 2010 basis of 100 points, ACIMIT said.

However, growth was observed in foreign markets only, where the index registered an absolute value of 99.3 points (+3%). In Italy, the index had an absolute value of just 46.5 points, an 11% drop over the same quarter for 2014, bucking the trend of the previous two quarters.

Raffaella Carabelli, president of ACIMIT said that the first ten months of 2015 has closed well overall in terms of orders with a growing sense of confidence for 2016. They witnessed a recovery in the Chinese market for the second half of 2015, and generally speaking, the Asian markets account for growth in their sales (India, Bangladesh, Pakistan and Vietnam).

In 2016, with the support of the Ministry of Economic Development and Italian Trade Agency, ACIMIT aims to further push its internationalization efforts.

Around 20 countries or markets will be touched by promotional initiatives favouring the penetration of Italy’s textile machinery sector. Among these are projects in Sub-Saharan Africa and Iran, areas which, Italian businesses are approaching for the first time or after years of partial closure.

ACIMIT represents an industrial sector comprising around 300 companies and producing machinery for an overall value of about EUR 2.5 billion, with exports amounting to 84% of total sales. .