Italy’s imports and exports of plastics and rubber processing machinery fell during the first six months of 2013 compared with the same period last year, according to national industry association Assocomaplast (Milan / Italy; www.assocomaplast.org).

According to the association’s analysis of figures from ISTAT, the internal organisation of the Italian National Institute of Statistics (Rome; www.istat.it), imports fell by 6.2% to EUR 280m due to the slow recovery of the domestic market. However, a recent forecast from the Italian employers’ federation, Confindustria (Rome, www.confindustria.it), predicts the country’s GDP will have stabilised in the third quarter and grow by 0.3% in 2013's final quarter.

A further positive note was provided by Assocomaplast, which said its business survey conducted at the start of September with a sample of plastics and rubber processing companies, indicated a degree of optimism, with processors’ order books up over the preceding month and favourable three to four-month projections.

Exports fell by 1.7% to EUR 1.21 bn in the first half of 2013, with a strong start to the year mirroring the end of 2012, followed by a loss of momentum, though without the steep declines suffered by other Italian mechanical engineering sectors.

The mindset of Italian machinery manufacturers is moderately optimistic. The latest survey of Assocomaplast members indicates companies expect to see an improvement in turnover in the second half of the year, in light of the upswing in orders in July compared with both June 2013 and July 2012.

Germany, Italy’s largest export market, accounted for 14.9% of exports in the first half of 2013 (compared with 14.7% in the same period in 2012), the US was next with 6.0% (5.5%) followed by France, also with 6.0% (6.3%). Russia was fourth with 5.6% (5.5%), followed by Poland 5.2% (4.6%), China 4.0% (5.1%), Spain 3.9% (3.7%), the UK 3.7% (3.1%), Brazil 3.4% (3.6%) and Turkey 3.0% (3.7%).