Italian trade association Assocomaplast (Milan; www.assocomaplast.org) said machinery production in 2012 had been driven by exports more than in the past and more markedly than in other Italian mechanical equipment sectors. Exports, based on data from the Italian National Statistics Institute (ISTAT; www.istat.it), increased by 6% year-on-year to EUR 2.57 bn, while total production of equipment for the Italian plastics and rubber processing industry remained static, at EUR 4.0 bn.

While reflecting the trend projected by Assocomaplast at the end of 2012, the figures fall slightly short of estimates based on performance in the first nine months of the year (see Plasteurope.com of 21.12.2012).

The association, which represents around 165 plastics and rubber processing machinery manufacturers, said the upward trend levelled off over the year, but enabled Italian equipment manufacturers to offset extremely weak domestic demand. The domestic market for machinery fell by just under 6% year-on-year during 2012 to EUR 2.05 bn, with imports rising by over 3% to EUR 625m.

Assocomaplast said its periodic business survey of a sample of Italian processors revealed a steep downturn in the domestic market through 2012, reducing orders for new equipment. However, the most recent three to four month forecast shows a less pessimistic outlook, the association said.

In exports, sales of extruders were up 9% compared with 2011 and blow moulding machines by 18%. Germany, Russia, France and China were the main destination markets for extruders while gains in blow moulding reflect much stronger demand from the US, with smaller increases in Russia and Poland. Injection moulding machines saw a 20% decline year-on-year, a result of some long-established manufacturers going out of business or experiencing severe difficulties, Assocomaplast said.

The order of the top five purchasing countries of Italian exports remains the same as in 2011 with Germany leading (14.6% of total, up 6.8%), followed by France (6.8%, up 10.9%), the US (6.2%, up 32.9%), China (5.4%, down 6.4%) and Russia (5.2%, up 17.8%).