The quarterly survey carried out by the Acimall Studies Office, the association that brings together Italian manufacturers of wood and furniture technology, confirms the expected and inevitable ‘return to normality’ after a season of exponential growth in orders and turnover.
In the April-June period of this year, in fact, orders were down by 17.8 per cent compared to the same period in 2022, a result to which both the minus 18.7 per cent recorded on orders coming in from outside Italy and the minus 13.8 per cent of demand from the domestic market contributed. The result confirms the figures recorded in the previous four quarters, all of which were negative, and brings the overall industry index back to 2019 levels. So, as we were saying, a return to normality after the slowdown caused by the pandemic and the subsequent recovery that ensured companies growth axes never seen in the last decades.
The wood and furniture technology sector can count on an order backlog with 5.2 months of assured production (the same figure recorded in the previous quarter), while the price change since the beginning of the year – which stood at 1.2 per cent – represents a cooling of the inflation that has characterized the sector and the economy in general over the last two years.
The qualitative survey reveals that 72 per cent of the sample of companies surveyed expect a substantial stability in production (it was 71 per cent in the previous quarter), while 9 per cent expect a further decrease and 19 per cent an increase (balance plus 10).
Employment: it is growing for 14 per cent of the sample, stable for 81 per cent, decreasing for 5 per cent. Stocks are stable for 34 per cent of the respondents (it was 62 in January-March), increasing for 33 per cent and decreasing for the other 33 per cent.
With regard to the forecast survey, the data processed by the Acimall Studies Office reveal a less positive climate compared to the previous quarter: with regard to the foreign market, the sample expects a stable trend for 33 per cent (it was 38 in the previous quarter); a decrease for 48 per cent (38 in January-March) and an increase for the remaining 19 per cent (it was 24). With regard to the Italian market, the trend will be stable for 48 per cent of respondents (57 per cent in Q1 2023), decreasing for 38 per cent (was 24 per cent) and increasing for 14 per cent (was 19 per cent last quarter).
“An expected scenario – commented Acimall director Dario Corbetta – but one that could experience a significant change of course thanks to the new Industry 5.0 Transition Plan, which is highly anticipated not only by the woodworking and furniture technology industry, but by all sectors of mechanics and beyond. The scope of the measure could lead to a recovery of the Italian market already in the coming months or at least from the beginning of 2024″.
A measure that would certainly open up new and wider possibilities for action in two directions, namely towards further progress on the road to digitalization and for an even more decisive and concrete ‘green’ turn in industrial processes.