In the fourth quarter of 2012 the index of orders for machine tools, developed by the Centre for Studies & Culture of company Ucimu-Sistemi per produrre, is marking an increase of 1,6 per cent compared to the same period last year, with a value absolute equal to 96.6.
In particular, the index of domestic orders grew by 38.8 percent compared to the fourth quarter of 2011, but the absolute value, equal to 85.9, still remains very low, confirming the weakness of the domestic market.
On the foreign front, the index orders marks a decline of 4.3 percent. The absolute index, equal to 102.5, is still above the average but this is not enough to reassure the Italian manufacturers who showed a progressive decrease in the collection orders, down for the past three consecutive quarters.
On an annual basis, the index represents a decline of 4.8 percent compared to the average for the year 2011. The figure weighs the negative feedback of foreign demand (-5.3%) and settling at levels significantly lower order intake in the Italian market, +2 percent over the previous year.
Luigi Galdabini, president of Ucimu, expresses great concern because – he said: “This latest survey confirms the cooling sensation of willingness to invest on the part of the main markets of the made in Italy. A very dangerous situation for Italian manufacturers in recent years have oriented their activities abroad also to compensate for the lack of appetite in the domestic market. It certainly can not grow indefinitely − said Luigi Galdabini − but the weakening of the main source of labor for companies in the sector today is not just a complication, since investments in capital goods in Italy are still at stake” .
“With the intensification of the conditions of the context − added Luigi Galdabini − those who are going to govern the country should consider the centrality of the Italian industrial system which, thanks to SMEs, today provides employment for hundreds of thousands of families. In this regard, Ucimu, in line with the requirements of the same Confindustria, asks that the companies would be facilitated in the process of growth and development because without development of the country is likely to screw himself“.
