According to the latest data from UCIMU-Sistemi Per Produrre — the Italian trade association for manufacturers of machine tools, robots, automation systems and ancillary products — the index of orders in Q3 2018 was stable; it grew by 0.2% compared with Q3 2017.

The absolute value of the index was 109.2 (base of 2010=100). Meanwhile, export orders increased by 6.8% compared with Q3 2017, achieving an absolute index value of 122.4, while orders from the domestic market fell by 15.3% (for an index value of just 56).

UCIMU president Massimo Carboniero (www.ucimu.it) said: “The downturn in orders collected in the domestic market shows a certain slowdown of investments in new technologies by Italian users, but this result should not mislead us.

The outcome registered in Q3 2018 is compared with a record-breaking quarter; it would have been difficult to do better than we did last year.

“What we can say is that orders in Italy are still satisfactory, as confirmed by results obtained at the recent 31.BI-MU/Sfortec Industry machine tool exhibition in Milan, which a large number of our customers waited for before
deciding their investment plans.

"Without considering the latest data, what worries the whole Italian manufacturing industry is the uncertainty about the incentive provisions included in the Italian Budget Plan 2019, which is likely to be without important measures to support growth, especially of the SMEs that make up the framework of our industrial system.”