ROME: Italian manufacturers of plastics and rubber machinery have made huge gains in key export markets, the U.S. and Germany in particular, during 2015. According to Assocomaplast’s analysis of 2015 ISTAT data on the polymer processing equipment sector, the no. 1 market Germany registered a 14 percent increase in exports.
Even better was the performance in the U.S., where Italian exports increased by 50 percent. This, said the industry association, was mainly due to higher sales of extruders, presses and machines for foamed products. Italy-based machine makers also made huge strides in Mexico, with a 20 percent rise, and Romania, where sales have nearly doubled on higher sales of extruders and thermoforming machines.
On the other hand, Assocomaplast reported that Italian exports had declined in three BRICs countries, compared to 2014: China, Brazil and Russia, which “with a 30 percent drop recorded the worst performance.” The Russian market, noted the group, is dealing with a deep recession, worsened by EU sanctions and by the Ruble’s depreciation—with sales of extruders, blow-molding machines and presses affected most. In Brazil, the decrease in exports was mostly due to a weaker demand for flexographic printing machineries, extruders and machinery for molding and forming, said Assocomaplast.
