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Product category: Manufacturing industry news
News Release from: UCIMU
Edited by the Manufacturingtalk Editorial Team on 26 January 2004

Italian machine tool orders continue in
decline

Orders taken by Italian metalworking machine tool builders were down by 16.8% in the fourth quarter of 2003, reports UCIMU, and domestic sales were particularly poor.

Based on the statistics processed by the Studies Dept of UCIMU-Sistemi per Produrre, the association of Italian machine tools, robotics and automation, the orders taken by Italian metalworking machine tool builders were down by 16.8% in the fourth quarter of 2003 compared with the same period in 2002 (for an index value of 76.1; base 2000=100)

Domestic sales made an especially poor showing, falling 27.5% on a year earlier, settling out at a value of 75 (the lowest index value recorded at year-end since 1998).

On the foreign front, the index showed a smaller decline, only 4.3%.

On an annualised basis, the total index of the orders in 2003 showed a drop of 11.9% (for an average index value of 63.4).

The 23.1% decrease in domestic orders weighed heavily on the final results with respect to 2002.

In contrast, the orders collected on the foreign market have remained virtually unchanged on a year earlier, recording losses of just 0.2%.

Overall, the performance of the sector was decidedly negative: the index of the orders has been in constant decline over the past three years, losing 36.6% with respect to the base year.

This figure has always reflected the performance of the world economy, which has not yet felt the early signs of recovery coming from the major economies.

The very different results between domestic orders and foreign sales prove that Italian builders have successfully kept their competitive edge on the international market, despite a particularly weak national demand.

Looking deeper at the analysis of the foreign markets, foreign trade data relating to the first nine months of the year reveal a substantial difference between the Euroland markets, where sales have declined from 20 to 30%, and the main non-EU markets (the US, China, Russia and Canada) where exports have shown healthy growth.

"This figure - states Andrea Riello, chairman of UCIMU-Sistemi per Produrre - is even more relevant when you remember that these countries should be feeling the effects of the revaluation of the Euro.

The growth in exports in the United States, China, Russia and Canada also proves that the Italian industry has maintained a sharp competitive edge, but has suffered a loss of demand on the European monetary markets." "Confirmation of this - continues Riello - is the fact that Italian builders are increasing their domestic market shares: imports have fallen faster than sales of Italian made machinery." "In light of these figures and to spur on recovery in the sector - states Riello - we are asking the government to enact an industrial policy instrument such as liberalization of the amortization allowances of investments, which would be vital to stimulating a recovery.

Faced with a crisis that has pervaded all the European monetary union countries - continues Riello - the European Central Bank needs to set up a bolder monetary policy, modelled on the plan implemented by the Federal Reserve.".

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