ACIMIT: Textile Machinery Orders Once More On the Rise for First Quarter 2021
Alessandro Zucchi, ACIMIT President
This result depended on a positive performance for orders coming in from abroad as well as from Italian market. A 68% increase was recorded on foreign markets, with the absolute value of the index reaching 125.5 points. On the domestic side, the upward trend in orders was more contained, but still significant (+54% compared to the first quarter of 2020), with an absolute value of the index at 164.1 points.
ACIMIT President Alessandro Zucchi commented on these results, “This significant increase in orders should be compared with the first quarter 2020 results, the period in which the pandemic began and production almost completely stopped.”
“Still, these numbers are certainly encouraging,” adds Zucchi, “even though the pandemic is still not under control, especially in Countries that are essential markets for our industry, such as India. Investments in the textile sector have thus seen a rather patchy recovery. Without a widespread vaccination plan on a global scale, our people remain limited in their movements, jeopardizing the possibility of seizing business opportunities in different markets.”
“A future recovery is also threatened by rising prices for raw materials,” states ACIMIT’s president. “A significant growth trend is currently under way, beginning from last summer and continuing to swell between late 2020 and early 2021. These price hikes are pushing up input costs and, in the absence of a price adjustment, the negative impacts for machinery manufacturers could be quite significant.”
Italian Machinery Manufacturers Presented Their Technological Innovations at ITMA Asia + Citme
66 Italian textile machinery manufacturers participated in the upcoming ITMA Asia + Citme, which took place in Shanghai from June 12 to 16, 2021. Of these, 21 manufacturers presented their technology offerings within National Sector Groups organized by ACIMIT, the Italian Association of Textile Machinery Manufacturers, and the Italian Trade Agency.
Asia represents the main destination for Italian textile machinery manufacturers. In 2020 38% of Italian textile machines exports went to Asia. Moreover, China is an absolutely important market for Italian companies: the first in Asia and the second worldwide behind only Turkey. In 2020 Italian machinery exports to China accounted for 14% of Italian exports in the sector (over 190 million euros). The main destinations in the area also include Pakistan, India and Bangladesh.
