This year has started off on a positive note for Italian textile machinery manufacturers. For the first quarter, orders have increased both in Italy and abroad. Orders for the start of 2017 confirm a positive trend in major foreign markets.

The orders index for textile machinery for the period from January to March grew by 24 per cent, compared to the same period in 2016. This growth was mostly from markets abroad. In Italy, the increase compared to the period from January to March 2016 was 16 per cent.

The index data for the first three months of the year confirm the positive signs seen by businesses in various foreign markets. A renewed climate of enhanced trust is currently perceived in the textile sector, triggered by the government’s commitment to enact a range of significant incentives for the country’s manufacturing system.

Italian textile machinery manufacturers comprise around 300 manufacturers, employing close to 12,000 people and producing machinery for an overall value of about euro 2.6 billion, with exports amounting to 86 per cent of total sales.

Italy is the world’s second largest producer of machinery for the textiles industry. In the production of machinery for tanning, and for the footwear and leather goods industry, Italy accounts for over 50 per cent of world production.