May 30, 2016
Italy – In the first quarter of 2016, the index of machine tool orders, processed by the Studies Dept. of Ucimu, the Italian machine tool association, registered a 14.3% increase compared with the same period of the previous year.
According to Ucimu, the overall outcome was mainly due to the excellent performances achieved in the Italian market; a positive response also came from the foreign markets. In particular, the index of orders collected in the foreign markets recorded a 1.7% rise versus the period January-March 2015.
Domestic orders increased by 31.8% in Q1, compared with the same period of the previous year. Therefore, the positive trend, registered by the manufacturers in the Italian market, has extended to eleven consecutive quarters.
Luigi Galdabini, Ucimu president said, “In these first months of the year, the demand for machine tools has been getting stronger and is growing again considerably, after the slight slowdown experienced in the last period of 2015. All this proves that end users, especially the Italian ones, are willing to invest. In this sense, the weakness at the end of last year is presumably to be attributed to the users' willingness to take their time in deciding which investments to make, in the light of what was presented at EMO Milano 2015, the world exhibition held in Milan in the month of October”.
“On the other hand, the provisions implemented by the government authorities to support this 'new course of the real economy' have undoubtedly contributed to stabilise what at first seemed only a weak trend reversal”.
Source: ETMM today