It looks like the respondents to the latest survey by the Italian plastics and rubber processing machinery and moulds manufacturers’ association Assocomaplast (Milan; www.assocomaplast.org) hit the nail on the head when asked about the business climate of 2010 – see Plasteurope.com of 06.01.2011. The latest association figures confirm the trend towards recovery and are even slightly better than the forecast Assocomaplast issued in January this year.

All in all, Italy’s plastics and rubber machinery manufacturers raised production levels by 9.1% year-on-year to EUR 3.6 bn. Exports were up 9.7%, generating a little more than EUR 2 bn. Assocomaplast points out that core machinery – including injection moulding presses and blow moulding machines – even saw a year-on-year increase of 14%, while extrusion line exports even rose by 30% over 2009. The leading export destination continued to be Germany, accounting for more than EUR 310m, with China in second place, at EUR 130m.

At EUR 567m, imports of machinery, equipment and moulds were up 17.2% year-on-year, whereas the domestic market worth rose by 10.5% to EUR 2.2 bn. All in all, this means that the Italian plastics and rubber machinery industry managed to raise its trade balance from EUR 1.4 bn in 2009 to EUR 1.5 bn last year.