2015-2017 Exhibitions
Italian trade association Assocomaplast has seen a 7.4% rise in exports to Asian markets, with China leading, and Indonesia trailing closely behind. Sales in Japan, on the other hand, was cut in half.
Meanwhile, the sales for the months January to September over-all this year for the association has increased compared to the same months last year. Despite this, businesses in the sector do not have the composure in the recovery of the domestic market, and a prudent assessment tells that the balance for this year remains the same as the previous year, says the association.
It also confirmed growth in over-all imports and exports. Exports rose by over 4% while purchases from abroad grew by over 7%. This has also led to a consolidation (+3%) of an already strong balance of trade.
Meanwhile in Europe, due to a drop in foreign trade, Germany, which has seen lower foreign trade with markets such as Brazil, Russia, China and India, has recently lowered its year-end forecasts for production in 2014 (the current estimate stands at a number of decimal points from the +3% stated in June).
However, Italy has shown an increase of 4.5% for exports to Europe in the months January to September. Also, Europe is confirmed as the principal destination of foreign sales for Italian manufacturers – up to a total of EUR1.13 billion. The EU markets absorbed 80% of that value, with average growth greater than that in the rest of Europe. It adds that the crisis with Russia has had a strong impact, causing orders to fall off by about 20%.
But exports, the traditional driver for Italian manufacturers of plastics and rubber processing machinery, has lost some of its momentum in recent months, says the association. And in spite of the sustained increase in imports evidenced in the statistics, businesses in the sector do not seem to feel confidence in the recovery of the domestic market, adds Assocomaplast.
The Americas has seen a positive trend as well, but only in the US and Mexico, with an increase of 20%. Sales to Central and South America have stalled, with the decrease of 22% in sales to Brazil weighing heavily.
Assocomaplast belongs to CONFINDUSTRIA, which bands together some 170 machinery manufacturers.
(PRA)
