In the second quarter of this year, orders from the Italian textile machinery industry continued the positive trend seen in the first quarter of this year. Mr. Raffaella Carabelli, President of the Italian Textile Machinery Association (ACIMIT), said: “The increase in domestic market orders is an unexpected but welcome development and a good sign for ITMA2015. In terms of foreign markets, we are very optimistic about Iran.” ACIMIT Summary data show that in the second quarter of 2015, Italian textile machinery orders increased by 15% year-on-year, with the order index reaching 99.4 points. Among them, orders from foreign markets have increased significantly (up 21% over the same period last year), growing for four consecutive quarters. The Italian market is still on the sidelines, but is showing clear signs of recovery. Compared with the same period last year, domestic orders increased by 7%.
Italian textile machinery industry order index (calculated based on 2010=100)
“The growth in domestic orders is a bit unexpected,” said Mr. Raffaella Carabelli, President of ACIMIT. “It seems that the stimulus policies implemented by the government have played a certain role in this recovery of our industry. The other role is of course due to our own downstream companies. The health of the industry. As ITMA2015 approaches, textile companies are full of expectations for the innovative products that will be exhibited in Milan. The recovery of our domestic market is undoubtedly a good sign for ITMA. 450 Italian companies will participate in the exhibition, accounting for 27% of all textile machinery companies.”
In terms of foreign markets, official data from the Italian Statistics Institute (ISTAT) confirms that all textile machinery import markets have recovered in the first four months of this year. Among them, India has resumed its import growth momentum (a year-on-year increase of 6%), Bangladesh’s imports have surged by 187%, and the EU market has also performed well. “We are waiting for the recovery of the Chinese market, where investment in machinery is still lower than last year,” Mr. Carabelli commented, “but ACIMIT has shifted its main focus to the Iranian market.”
ACIMIT related person explained: “Years ago, Iran used to be the benchmark market for the Italian textile machinery industry. International sanctions blocked machinery exports to Iran and had a negative impact on many Italian manufacturers. The recent nuclear issue agreement has provided Iranian textile This opens a window for the industry to resume investment in textile technology after the modernization of the industry slowed down during many years of sanctions.” The negative growth momentum of Italian exports ended in 2014. Compared with 2013, sales of Italian textile machinery increased by 170%, reaching 14 million euros.
