Italy Machinery Exports Up 14%

Italian rubber & plastics machinery sector has registered growth with exports up 14.6% in the first half of 2017 compared to the same period the year before.

According to figures released by Italian trade association Amplast on Monday, balance of trade between machinery imports and exports is positive by over €1.1 billion ($1.3 billion), up 17% compared to the first six months of the year in 2016, PNE.com reported.

While imports slightly slowed down, sales abroad showed a “robust” double-digit growth in the first half.  In terms of product performance, extrusion lines, flexographic printers and thermoforming machinery did particularly well with double-digit growth in exports year-over-year. Mono- ad multi-filament, blow moulding machines and machines for foamed materials had negative performance.

Europe remained the principle destination market for Italian machinery with an upsurge in Russian demand, which saw sales more than double from approximately €21 million to nearly €50 million in the first half.

The Americas absorbed a fifth of Italian exports, with Latin America and Brazil in the lead. This is while Asia remained stagnant, dragged down by a 12% decline recorded in China.

“The recovery in supplies to important historical markets such as Russian and Brazil, which were sputtering in the recent past due to their respective… gives a quite significant boost in confidence for companies in our sector,” said president of Amaplast Alessandro Grassi.

The six month data, said Grassi, “are an important signal for Italian manufacturers of plastics and rubber processing machinery, equipment, and moulds, who… can look forward to a new record in production and exports at year end.”