Giancarlo Losma, UCIMU president: “The excellent performance of foreign orders continues but the interesting data, emerging from this quarterly survey, is the awakening of domestic demand. The reversal in trend, in such an uncertain moment, gives positive hopes for the immediate future and is an excellent base from which to start off again after halt in capital goods investment in 2009”.

The machine tools index of orders has grown significantly with an increase of 58.2% in the third quarter 2011 compared to the period of July-September 2010, for an absolute index value of 73.9 (base 2005=100). This emerges from the survey drawn up by the Studies Dept. of UCIMU-SISTEMI PER PRODURRE, the Association of Italian machine tools, robots and automation manufacturers.

The positive trend, which started at the beginning of 2010, consolidates the recovery of the Italian industry in this sector that, as emerges from the survey, has obtained positive feedback both from the domestic and the foreign markets.

For the first time, after four consecutive quarters of decrease, the index of orders for the domestic market sets off again marking an increase of 96.8%. Nonetheless the absolute value is still low reaching a quota of 30.3.

The performance of the orders placed in foreign markets was excellent, marking an increase of 32.3% compared to the same period of the previous year, for an absolute vale of 114.3.

Giancarlo Losma, UCIMU president, commented as follows: “despite the particularly uncertain context, the Italian industry of the sector has recovered a good share of the ground lost during the 2009 crisis, by strongly increasing its activity in foreign markets”.

During the first six months of the year machine tools exports increased by 27.8% compared to the same period of 2010. Deliveries grew in Germany (+67.3%), which regains its position as main outlet market for the Italian products of this sector. Sales in China slightly decreased (-1.3%) Positive results for deliveries to United States (+100.9%), France (+6.3), Brazil (+63.4%), India (+40%), Russia (+8.7%) and Turkey (+113.1%).

“In light of this data - said Giancarlo Losma – the manufacturers ask for the immediate intervention of government authorities in order to re-establish the activity granted until a few months ago by ICE (Italian Institute for Foreign Trade). Currently exports absorb more than 60% of the Italian production in the sector, for this reason – continued Losma – we need the support of an independent agency which works side by side with the companies self committed in the activity of internationalisation, nowadays the most gainful for the manufacturers”.

“However – said the UCIMU president – the interesting data emerging from this quarterly survey is the awakening of domestic demand. Certainly, the absolute index value is still low, confirming the weakness of the domestic market, but the reversal in trend, in such an uncertain moment, gives positive hopes for the immediate future and is an excellent base from which to start off again after the 2009 halt in capital goods investment. All this in anticipation of BI-MU, the main exhibition appointment for the Italian market, which will take place in 2012 and could give a further boost to the recovery of the domestic consumption”.