Growth in wood technology orders
The second quarter of 2015 marked an increase in orders for wood technologies, confirming the positive trend that characterized the current year. A new wave of optimism, therefore, although it is obviously not possible to let our guard down: in fact, there are still many critical issues that could cause a new trend reversal. Starting from the persistence of the stagnation of demand on the internal market: the national economy, as evidenced by several parts, now seems to be marked by a new, more satisfying season, yet investments in technology are slow to follow this trend. Some foreign markets, moreover, are not so attentive to Italian machines: Russia remains a closed market, while there are not few concerns - moreover tempered by the declarations of the Chinese authorities in recent days - due to the effects that the policy of devaluing the yuan could have on world markets.
Acimall data
This is the scenario in which the results of the traditional economic survey carried out by the Studies Office of Acimall (in the first image, the Assago office), the confindustrial association representing the companies engaged in the production of technologies, tools and accessories for woodworking, one of the "Made in Italy" excellences. The survey - which involves a significant statistical sample by company size and product type - reveals that orders increased overall by 5.3 percent compared to the period April-June 2014. Orders from the domestic market contracted, which in the second quarter 2015 were 11.9 percent lower than in the same period last year. Orders from abroad grew by 15.9 per cent, despite the difficulties already mentioned in two of the most important markets for the industry in the sector. The order book is evaluated by the Acimall analysis at around 2.8 months (there were 3 in the survey relating to the previous quarter); the increase in prices, since the beginning of the year, stands at 0.8 per cent, against the 0.9 recorded in the first three months of the year. As regards the results of the qualitative survey: according to 57 per cent of the interviewees, the production trend is positive, for 38 per cent it is stable and 5 per cent tends to decline. to the period January-March 2015, when the "positive thoughts" belonged to only 27 percent of the sample, compared to 55 percent who counted on substantial stability and 18 percent worried about a further decline. Employment sensations are stable (62 per cent do not expect changes, 14 per cent growth, 24 per cent a decrease). Stocks on the rise for 33 percent of the interviewees, stable for 62, down for the remaining 5 percent. And what about the future? Nobody has a crystal ball, but the investigation by Acimall's Research Department provides some valuable information on what are the "sensations" that dominate in Italian companies in the sector. And once again there is substantial confidence in the results that it will be possible to achieve cross-border, while concerns on the internal market increase, so much so that the opinions gathered lead to a negative balance after two quarters characterized by greater optimism also on the national front. 38 per cent of the sample believe that orders from abroad will grow again in the next quarter; 52 per cent tends to be substantially stable, while 10 per cent expects a decline (positive balance equal to 28) .As already mentioned on the national side we have to deal with a negative balance, equal to minus 4, of a 14 per cent of the sample that sees a further contraction of domestic orders, a 76 per cent voting for substantial stability and a narrow 10 per cent of optimists who, on the other hand, expect growth.