Machine tools: slight slowdown in the first quarter of 2018

In the first quarter of 2018, the Ucimu index for machine tools orders moved back, marking a 4.3 percent drop compared to the same period of the previous year. The absolute value (base 2010 = 100) remains however very high: 179.6. The slowdown in orders collected by Italian manufacturers on the domestic market was countered by the positive trend in orders collected across the border.
In particular, the index of foreign orders recorded an increase of 7.6 percent compared to the same period of 2017, for an absolute value of 180.8. Never had such a high level been touched.
On the domestic front, on the other hand, Italian manufacturers recorded a decrease of 25.8 percent compared to the first quarter of 2017. The absolute value of the index is equal to 175.3, therefore a good 75 points above the average, confirming the willingness to invest still high expressed by the Italian market.
Massimo Carboniero, president of Ucimu-Sistemi per produrre, the association of Italian machine tool manufacturers, robots and automation, commented: “The slowdown in orders collected on the domestic market does not bother us for two reasons. First of all because the result of these first three months is evidently the rebound effect of the extraordinary exploit put in place at the end of 2017 when customers, worried that the super and hyper-depreciation measures were not confirmed, accelerated the procedures for the orders. Secondly, because the result is compared to a very impressive first quarter of 2017“. “In January order collection in Italy − continued Massimo Carboniero − was weak, but in the following months the situation improved. But now the expected recovery could be penalized by the political uncertainty that the country is going through“.