The performance of the Italian industry of printing and converting machinery shows overall stability. This was revealed by the quarterly qualitative survey carried out by Acimga, the Confindustria association of companies operating in the industry. The analysis registered members’ sentiment in the third quarter of 2013 and outlines forecasts for the year’s end.

On the domestic revenues front 50% of companies sampled for the survey stated that the quarter under analysis closed off with a generally stable performance, in line with the expectations produced by the previous quarterly study.

The situation is expected to remain unaltered for the last months of 2013. The majority of industry operators (46%) predict no change; in addition, for the first time since 2011, the balance between optimists (33%) and pessimists (21%) is back on the positive side.

Foreign revenues show a similar scenario. 48% of interviewees reported essential stability in both revenues and in their expectations for the end of the year. It is interesting to note that no interviewed company forecasts a drop. Conversely, domestic sales still show a difficult situation in the third quarter, although 50% of interviewed companies report a tendency toward greater stability by the end of the year.

The export trade proves once again the driving force of the industry – 83% of revenues are generated by exports. Over the period in question, over half the companies (52%) reported a stable performance in foreign sales, while 26% actually increased them. The last quarter of the year brings growing expectations for stability (65% of operators) and for an increase in sales (35% of companies). The stability of employment rates is a comforting datum. In the July-September quarter employment levels remained unchanged for 92% of companies and the remaining 8% claimed to have increased them.

For the last three months of the year, companies expecting to leave employment levels unaltered amount to 88% of the total; the percentage of companies planning to hire additional personnel remains unchanged at 8%. Acimga, founded in 1947, operates through both a national and international network:  Confindustria  Federmacchine  Federazione della Filiera della Carta e della Grafica, Tavolo Filiera della Carta, Eumaprint, Globalprint, Istituto Italiano Imballaggio.