At last, a sign that allows more than just "moderate optimism" for the Italian woodworking machinery and tools industry. According to the market surveys by the Acimall Studies Office, 2006 has started off with significant growth, confirming the trend of the final weeks of last year.
According to the survey conducted by Acimall, member of the Italian Confindustria, the first three months of this year have seen a total increase in orders by as much as 36.4 percent as compared to the same period of 2005. The same trend is shared by international and domestic markets: orders from abroad have increased by 37.2 percent, while Italian customers have accounted for 33.7 percent of the order increase as compared to January-March 2005.
For a correct evaluation of these figures, however, we should consider that the first quarter 2005 had recorded a very negative result. Nevertheless, the trend detected by the survey is still satisfactory also in comparison with the final quarter of 2005, with orders up by 8.2 percent (+8.1 percent from abroad, +8.5 percent in Italy).
From January to March this year, prices - according to the information provided by the sample companies - have grown by 0.8 percent, with 3.4 months of ensured production. 76 percent of the surveyed companies consider employment as stationary, while it is decreasing for 17 percent and increasing for 7 percent.
There is quite some optimism for the future: the forecasts of the interviewed companies predict a continuation of the positive trend: as a matter of fact, 33 percent of the sample expect a further growth of international orders, 60 percent predict stability and 7 percent only fear a reduction (positive balance +26). A similar attitude has been recorded as relates to the domestic market: the coming months will see substantial stability according to 62 percent of the interviewees, improvement according to 31 percent and worsening for the remaining 7 percent (positive balance, +24).
An opportunity to evaluate these trends and forecasts will be certainly offered by the upcoming Xylexpo/Sasmil, the biennial international exhibition of woodworking technology and supplies for the wood and furniture industry, scheduled in May 16-20, 2006, at the new fieramilano expo center in Rho, where all the leading actors of the industry will be present.
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