ITALY - The Acimall (Italian woodworking machinery and tools manufacturers’ association) figures for July-September 2020 clearly reflect what's happening in this key segment of the Italian mechanical engineering industry.

In general, the orders of machinery and tools for wood and furniture are recording a decreasing trend below expectations.

Webinars, online demos and “digital conversations” are helping companies keep their business relations on global markets alive, reaffirming their competitiveness to customers around the world, traditionally sensitive to “made in Italy” quality.

According to the figures, wood-furniture technology recorded a decrease of orders by 10.1 percent compared to the same quarter of 2019, in line with the trend of the entire machine tools industry.

Orders on the domestic market decreased by 32.3 percent, as opposed to a better trend of international demand, which decreased by 1 percent only.

This general trend is mitigated by the fact that orders increased by more than 40 percent compared to April - June 2020 period.