The analysis by Assocomaplast (the Italian trade association, belonging to Confindustria, which groups together some 160 machinery manufacturers) of the ISTAT figures for Italian foreign trade for the first half of this year shows a rise in import-exports of rubber and plastics equipment, compared to January-June 2013.

Exports to Asia showed an increase of 24.7%, compared to 17% in 2013. Also in this case, the balance was tipped by China, but exports to India and Indonesia also performed well. The Asian area also includes the Middle East, where the association notes the positive performance of sales to Saudi Arabia.

More specifically, and extending the comparison also to the preceding months, the association says it saw a progressive rise in imports, which closed the first half of the year up by +8%. This improvement can, it hopes, partly be ascribed to the stimulus measures enacted by the Italian government.

Exports, on the other hand, though still comfortably positive, reveal a slight slowdown, if the +6.4% of June is compared with the preceding months (+8.6% in May, +8.3% in April, and +8.9% in March).

In terms of equipment imported, flexographic printers and injection moulding machines saw a 20% rise.

On the export side, extruders (which account for over 11% of the total) saw a +6% rise, while blow moulding machines (+16%) continue to show a strong performance and flexographic printers continue to account for a considerable share of Italian exports in this sector.

Finally, moulds, which account for the largest slice of Italian exports, accounted for EUR95 million, with Germany being the main market.

The ranking of the top export destinations do not show any major changes compared to the first half of 2013.