ITALY – The first quarter 2022, despite significant differences from the previous one, reaffirmed the good health conditions of the Italian wood and furniture technology industry.

This is the evidence of the quarterly survey made by the Studies office of Acimall – the association that gathers the Italian manufacturers of machines, tools and equipment – on a significant sample for the domestic production.

After closing 2021 with really extraordinary production figures (up by 36.9 percent compared to 2020 and 11.6 percent over 2019), the year that has just started seems well on the way to keep a positive trend.

In the 1Q-2022, orders increased by 21.7 percent over the same quarter of 2021, as a result of 35.1 percent expansion on the domestic market – still showing high propensity to invest – and a moderate 3.3 percent growth recorded by export.

The orders book is stable at six months of secured production (6.1 months in the October-December 2021 period). Unfortunately, a strong rally of prices continues to evolve, up by 5.3 percent in the first quarter 2022, continuing the trend recorded throughout last year.

“We are paying a high fee for the difficult situation of purchasing and supply chains”, said Luigi De Vito, president of Acimall. “The global economic and production system is facing a situation that has been worsened by the war in Eastern Europe, as well as the enduring uncertainty about possible pandemic developments in the second half of the year”. “Right now, it is still hard to say when we will go back to normal – De Vito concluded – and once again, our entrepreneurs will have to hold the rudder firmly, trying to navigate their companies in a situation where any prediction and decision appears to be difficult”.