Italy’s woodworking machinery manufacturers recorded a 3.7 per cent increase in orders in the October-December 2020 period compared to the same period in 2019, with encouraging signs coming from the domestic market, which grew by 7.3 per cent, outpacing export business (up 4 per cent). This is according to figures released by industry association Acimall.

“The last weeks of 2020 have undoubtedly shown that the industry is capable of overcoming the current challenges,” said Acimall president Luigi De Vito. “Although the first weeks of this year still show an encouraging trend across the supply chain, we need to be cautious and wait for the next quarters before we can say that the market is recovering. An important support in this direction will certainly be the Industry 4.0 transition plan and the extension of the incentives for the purchase of new technologies provided by the Italian government for the next two years.”

The quarterly survey by Acimall’s study office shows that the backlog of orders is 3.2 months (compared to 3.1 in the previous quarter), with a 1.2 per cent increase in prices since the beginning of 2020, while sales increased by 17.2 per cent compared to the fourth quarter of 2019.

In the quality survey, 50 per cent reported a positive production trend, six per cent a negative trend and 44 per cent a stable trend.

According to the forecast survey, 50 per cent expect a stable trend for exports, 39 per cent predict a consolidation of the recovery and 11 per cent fear a decline.  Expectations for the Italian market vary: 45 per cent believe business will continue to grow, 33 per cent expect a stable trend and 22 per cent see a decline.