Italian rubber, plastics machinery sector reports 10% growth in orders

MILAN, Italy—The Italian rubber and plastics machinery industry has seen a "growing order book" over the first six months of the year, reporting a 10-percent increase year-on-year.

In a statement Oct. 3, the industry trade association Amaplast said it expected the order trend to remain positive in the third quarter of the year, helped by overseas customers.

"The Italian performance appears to be better than that of the German competitors," said Amaplast, citing a recent VDMA report for the German rubber and plastic machinery sector.

"VDMA predicted a downturn for the ongoing year, especially in light of the slowdown in orders, and are expecting a turnover in line with 2021—or a few points greater at best," Amaplast noted.

"Even in terms of exports, Germany closed the first half of the year with a growth of 1 percent, whereas Italy registered an increase of 3 percent," it added.

Exports—historically absorbing over 70 percent of production—saw an increasing flow of non-European Union European customers as well as buyers from South American and Asia.

On the other hand, the EU and North America have registered a slight slowdown, Amaplast said.

With regards to major markets, specifically the top 10 by value, Italian machinery makers saw an increase in sales to Germany, Poland, Mexico, Spain, as well as in India and the United Kingdom.

On the contrary, deliveries to the U.S., China, France and Turkey decreased.

In terms of product categories, Amaplast reported "a remarkable increase" in the extrusion market, with plants for mono- and multifilament registering export growth of 64 percent.

To conclude, Amaplast said it was concerned with the current state of economy.

"The drastic rises in energy prices have worsened in the past weeks, exacerbating components and raw materials shortages recorded in previous months," it said.