WOODWORKING MACHINERY: ANOTHER POSITIVE QUARTER: In the April-June period, orders increased +21.2 % The trend has really changed: for some time now, the atmosphere has been different in the business of technology for wood and wood-based materials. Further evidence comes from the periodical survey by the Studies office of Acimall, the Confindustria member association, showing that in the second quarter 2016 orders increased by 21.2 percent compared to the same period of last year. The positive trend of recent times is continuing, still driven by foreign markets, where orders went up by 17.2

Pirelli recently unveiled its plan to invest USD $200 million to build a new car tire manufacturing facility in Silao, Guanajuato, Mexico. The announcement came only four years after the inauguration of another Pirelli factory in the ‘Puerto Interior’ industrial park in Silao and coincided with the visit to Mexico of Italy’s Prime Minister, Matteo Renzi and meeting with Mexican President, Enrique Pena Nieto at the Palacio Nacional, in Mexico City. According to the company, the new investment confirms the importance of Mexico to Pirelli’s international operations, especially the NAFTA market

The year 2015 will not be remembered as a season of records, but for the Italian woodworking technology industry the past twelve months were undoubtedly better than expected. The trends based on the positive figures of the preliminary balance published by the association in mid-December (for convenience, see the table in the left column of this press release) will probably be revised upwards, although it should be noticed that most orders coming in the fourth quarter will generate revenues in 2016. As a matter of fact, orders in the final quarter 2015 cast a new light onto the industry. On the

ASSOCOMAPLAST, tthe Italian trade association belonging to CONFINDUSTRIA, which groups together some 165 makers of machinery, moulds and equipment for plastics and rubber, has produced its 2013 full-year forecast for the industry on the basis of foreign trade data for the first nine months of the year provided by ISTAT, Italy's National Institute of Statistics. The slight dip in exports (-2.8% with respect to January-September 2012) could be recovered in the fourth quarter thanks to the expected economic recovery, early signals of which have been noted recently by the CONFINDUSTRIA Research

The analysis by Assocomaplast, the Italian trade association, belonging to CONFINDUSTRIA, which groups together some 160 manufacturers of plastics and rubber processing machinery) of the latest ISTAT, the Italian National Institute of Statistics, figures for Italian foreign trade shows that, in the first half of 2013, imports in the sector were somewhat weak compared to the same period in 2012 whereas exports held relatively firm, as summarized in Table 1. The downturn in imports is a symptom of a domestic market that still struggles to recover. However, a potentially promising sign, on this

Assocomaplast (the Italian trade association belonging to CONFINDUSTRIA, which groups together some 165 makers of machinery, molds and equipment for plastics and rubber) has issued its report on the sector's performance in 2012 – based also on the Italian National Institute of Statistics - ISTAT foreign trade statistics. Even more than in the past – and more markedly than in other Italian mechanical equipment sectors – production output was driven by exports, with an upward trend that, despite levelling off over the year, enabled Italian equipment manufacturers offset extremely weak domestic

The 2010 figures reported by Italian packaging machinery manufacturers show that the industry has put the crisis firmly behind its back. The sector's turnover totalled 3,759 million euro at current prices, 16,4% up on 2009, when it slumped to 3,229 million euro. Last year's turnover even surpassed that of 2007 (3,610 million euro) and was not far short from the record figure of 3,827 million euro achieved in 2008. The excellent 2010 performance also enabled the Italian packaging machinery industry to strengthen its international leadership position and secure a 25,7% share of the world market

Some good news, at last, though long awaited, for the Italian production of machinery and technology to process wood and wood-based materials. According to the Acimall trend survey for the first quarter 2010, we are seeing a consolidation of recovery that started in the last three months of 2009. It’s mainly good news from foreign markets that are bringing cautious optimism also for the near future, still considering that these figures compare to the first quarter 2009 that was the most difficult period of the crisis. According to the statistic sample interviewed by the analysts of the