Italy textile machinery sector grows in overseas markets

International orders for textile machinery in Italy were on an uptrend in the last quarter of 2015, according to the Association of Italian Textile Machinery Manufacturers or ACIMIT. This growth, however, was offset by the slowdown of domestic orders in the past six months.

Based on the group's survey, the overall index value of orders for textile machinery stood at 89.1 points from October to December, climbing 2 percent YoY. The ascent was mainly because of increased orders from foreign markets, which registered an absolute index value of 99.3 points, up 3 percent from the same period last year. Domestically, the index had an absolute value of just 46.5 points, an 11 percent year-on-year drop.

"I believe it's important to have closed out 2015 with an overall increase in the order intake. This is a positive result that may be further strengthened over the first half of 2016 if the numerous contacts confirmed at ITMA 2015 materialize," said ACIMIT president Raffaella Carabelli.

"As for the domestic market, we 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," she added.

Carabelli also maintained that export figures in the first 10 months of 2015 confirm the positive trend in orders, with rising sales from different Asia textile and garment hubs, including China, India, Bangladesh, Pakistan and Vietnam, mostly accounting for the growth.

ACIMIT aims to further push its internationalization efforts this year, gaining the support of the Ministry of Economic Development and Italian Trade Agency. In line with these, the group has lined up a series of promotional initiatives to boost penetration of Italy's textile machinery sector. Among the target markets are Sub-Saharan Africa and Iran.

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