Acimall, the association of Italian woodworking and furniture technology manufacturers, says a declining trend for orders continues and is in line with the previous quarters.The finding - the results of the traditional quarterly survey carried out by Acimall’s Studies Office – determined that the October-December 2023 figures show an overall reduction of orders by 23.6 per cent compared to the same period of 2022. The result is from a combination of incoming orders from abroad (minus 6.3 per cent) and a sharp decline in domestic demand (minus 48.1 per cent), largely due to a wait-and-see attitude encouraged by the expected implementation of the new “Industria 5.0” measures.
However, Acimall says the wood and furniture technology industry can still rely on a significant order backlog of 4.5 months, having saved for a rainy day in the past years when demand was high. Prices are rallying, up by 1.9 percent since January 2023.
According to the survey, 55 per cent of the interviewed companies expect substantial stability in production, while 25 per cent predict an increase and 20 per cent further reduction. Ten per cent of interviewed companies expect increasing employment, while 70 per cent indicate substantial stability and 20 per cent fear a reduction.
On the domestic market, the figures processed by the Studies Office of Acimall reveal that 50 per cent of the sample expect stability, 15 per cent increasing orders and 35 per cent a reduction.
Expectations are more balance for the foreign markets: 40 per cent said the trend will remain stable, while things will get worse according to 35 per cent. The remaining 25 per cent expect an increase in orders.
“We can only repeat what we have been saying for months,” said Acimall Director Dario Corbetta.
“In recent times, our industry has benefited from a very positive situation that could not last forever, and now we have to face a return to pre-Covid levels.” He added, however, that history has shown that Italian companies are well equipped to handle “any situation.”
