Italy: The Italian industry manufacturing machine tools, robots and automation systems have ended 2014 on a positive note. Luigi Galdabini, president of UCIMU-Sistemi Per Produrre, said: “The recovery, which had started at the end of 2013, materialised in 2014. Among all indicators, the most relevant datum is that of domestic consumption which has finally come back to a positive sign, showing the new willingness to invest of the Italian users.”
According to the preliminary figures processed by the Studies Department of UCIMU, production in 2014 achieved €4.695 billion (US$5.572 billion), a 4.6 percent growth compared to the value of the previous year.
Part of this improvement can be attributed to the growing domestic market. The association says production is growing and Italian consumption are starting up again, registering a double-figure increase and driving the manufacturers' deliveries and import. All in all, Italian consumption added up to €2.420 billion, an 18.2 percent increase compared to numbers in 2013, highlighting the recovery of investments made by the Italian manufacturing industry in production systems.
Manufacturers have taken advantage of this trend that resulted in deliveries in the domestic market growing by 21.1 percent, to €1.335 billion. On the other hand, imports recorded a lower increase (+14.9 percent), amounting to €1.085 billion.
On the export front, the figures are described as “stable” by UCIMU. The numbers are confirmed to remain on the level of 2013, reaching €3.360 billion (-0.7 percent). This is due to the general slowdown of the world trade and, in particular, by the decision of the European Union to limit exports of machine tools to Russia, as a consequence of the tension between the Federation and Ukraine.
The association says in the first nine months of the year, the main destination countries of ‘Made in Italy’ machines are China, (-18.6 percent) €264 million, the US (-8.4 percent) 258 million, Germany (+0.2 percent) 231 million, Russia (-16 percent) 110 million, France (+0.8 percent) 102 million, Turkey (+0.6 percent) 81 million, Poland (+17.1 percent) 71 million, India (-35.5 percent) 62 million, Mexico (+11 percent) 61 million, Brazil (-37.3 percent) 60 million.
Leaving 2014 behind, the forecasts for 2015 are positive, says the organisation. Manufacturers' deliveries are expected to keep on growing, achieving €1.390 billion, marking a +4.1 percent, driven by the positive trend of domestic consumption which will reach €2.530 billion, ie: +4.5 percent compared to 2014. Imports will also benefit from the bright demand expressed by the Italian users, increasing to €1.140 billion, +5.1 percent versus 2014.
