The domestic market, on the other hand, was on the rise, the Association of Italian Textile Machinery Manufacturers reports. “What we’ve seen in Italy is the bucking of a trend, and this is a good omen for ITMA Milan,” commented Raffaella Carabelli, President of ACIMT.

Signs of a recovery

After signs of a recovery observed during the previous quarter, Italy’s domestic market took one more step forward, with a domestic orders index that jumped up by 44% compared to the same period for 2014.

However, in the foreign markets, after four consecutive periods of growth, orders appear to have suddenly fallen short. The index of orders has decreased by 4%. Weighing down on this negative performance is lower than expected demand from two of the world’s major textile manufacturing markets, China and Turkey.

Good omen for ITMA Milan

“As was the case three months ago, I find myself commenting on a positive situation for our domestic market,” said Raffaella Carabelli. “We therefore have confirmation of the validity of the instruments put in place by Italian authorities, promoting investments in machinery and technology, including in the textile industry.”

The Association believes these figures appear to represent a good omen for the coming edition of ITMA, the international textile machinery trade fair, which will open its doors at Fiera Milano Rho on 12 November.

The event is already setting records: over 1600 exhibitors will occupy a surface area of around 105,000m². Italian machinery manufacturers will certainly play a major role, with about 450 exhibitors on hand (over 28% of the total exhibitors) and over 31,000 net m² of surface area occupied, ACIMIT reports.

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