ACIMIT
Source: ACIMIT
The index of orders intake for Italian textile machinery, as compiled by the Association of Italian Textile Machinery Manufacturers (ACIMIT), Milan/Italy, for the period January-March 2021 (Q1) was up by 66% compared to the same period for 2020.
This result depended on a positive performance for orders coming in from abroad as well as from Italian market. A 68% increase was recorded on foreign markets, while on the domestic side, the upward trend in orders was more contained, but still significant (+54% compared to Q1/2020).
This significant increase in orders should be compared with the Q1/2020 results, the period in which the Covid-19 pandemic began and production almost completely stopped. Investments in the textile sector have thus seen a rather patchy recovery.
A future recovery is also threatened by rising prices for raw materials. These price hikes are pushing up input costs and, in the absence of a price adjustment, the negative impacts for machinery manufacturers could be quite significant.
