ITALY – According to data from Acimall (Italian Woodworking Machinery, and Tools Manufacturers’ Association) the excellent trend of orders in early 2021 has pushed the Italian wood technology industry back up to its al-time highs, achieved in 2018.

“There never could be a better way to start the new year. The data processed by our Studies office confirm the “strong perception” of recent months: 2021 has started off very positively, with a strong expansion of the demand of furniture and wood industry technology”. Luigi De Vito, president of the association commented the amazing result of the first ninety days of this year, with orders up by 58 percent compared to the same period of 2020.

The trend of international orders was very positive, with a 52 percent increase, while domestic demand literally boomed, growing by 87.8 percent.

“The term of comparison is clearly a period – January-March 2020 – that had been strongly affected by the closings caused by the global sanitary emergency, nevertheless, the rebound has largely exceeded our expectations, supported by the positive signals that had come in the final quarter of 2020”, De Vito added.

The interviewees, of the quarterly survey carried out by Acimall’s Studies office,  gave clear feedback : 75 percent of the sample indicated a positive production trend (versus 50 percent in previous quarter); 5 percent reported decreasing business, while 20 percent reported stability.