Italian textile machinery manufacturers will come together physically with the Turkish market, which is the second-largest export market, for the first time in a long time at ITM, on June 14-18. They, taking the pulse of the industry, will introduce their solutions for the increasing sustainability and digitalization demands of Turkish textile companies during the exhibition. President of the Italian Textile Machinery Manufacturers Association (ACIMIT) Alessandro Zucchi, made special statements to Textilegence regarding their evaluations and expectations for the ITM.
Zucchi stated that Turkey is one of the main markets for Italian textile machinery manufacturers and said that Italy has exported to Turkey textile machines for a value of 176 million euros in the first 9 months of 2021, making Turkey the second largest market for Italy behind China. Zucchi relayed that the demand of Turkish textile companies for Italian machines is mainly for knitting machines as well as finishing and weaving. He explained that 26% of their exports to Turkey in the first 9 months of 2021 are related to knitting machinery. Zucchi added that the expectations of the Italian exhibitors at ITM, which is one of the most important exhibitions in the world in the textile machinery industry, are very high and the business climate remains to be positive for this reason.
Italian textile machinery manufacturers focus on sustainability and digitalization
Alessandro Zucchi underlined that the textile and clothing sector is the second most polluting sector in the world and stated that therefore, the demands of textile companies is focused on solutions that can combine the sustainability of the product with the sustainability of the processes. He relayed that this need is increasingly observed in the requests coming from their local customers in the Turkish market.
Zucchi disclosed that sustainability and digitalization are two topics Italian textile machinery manufacturers have been working on for a long time and remarked that these are strongly linked to each other. He explained that all the technological solutions proposed by Italian companies, also at the next ITM edition, are focused on offering customers efficient and sustainable solutions both from an economic and environmental point of view.
Zucchi also evaluated the economic situation in the world and in Turkey, sharing the following; “The economic scenario is closely linked to the continuing Covid-19 pandemic and geopolitical tensions that threaten business activities. Rising prices of raw materials, their scarcity, logistics problems and rising freight costs are challenges that have been occupying the industry due to the circumstances surrounding the Covid-19 pandemic. Only with the end of the pandemic and a more relaxed geopolitical climate will we be able to return to normality, also from an economic point of view”.
Italian textile machinery order intake index increased by 43% in the last quarter of the year
ACIMIT, the umbrella organization of Italian textile machinery manufacturers, represents an industrial sector that comprises roughly 300 manufacturers, producing machinery for an overall worth of around 1.8 billion euros, 83% of which are exported, and employing around 12 thousand 900 people. While the Italian textile machinery order intake index for the fourth quarter of 2021 showed an increase of 43% compared to the same period of 2020, the absolute value of the index in this period reached 127.9 points, based on the value in 2015 as 100. Domestic orders increased by 83% compared to the period of October-December 2020 to 234.6, while orders from abroad increased by 36% to an absolute index value equal to 116.4. The index of orders intake rose 95% to an absolute value of 128 points on an annual basis. Domestic orders increased by 204% compared to 2020 while the increase in orders abroad was 79%.