In Q2, 2025, the index of orders for textile machinery, compiled by the Economics Department of ACIMIT, the Association of Italian Textile Machinery Manufacturers, declined by a meagre 1 per cent compared to the same period in 2024. In absolute terms, the index stood at 47.1 points (base year 2021=100).
This result was driven by an increase in order intake from the domestic market, which almost entirely offset the decline recorded in foreign markets.
Orders collected on the domestic market rose by 38 per cent compared to Q2, 2024, reaching an absolute value of 70.9 points.
In foreign markets, orders declined by 7 per cent compared to the same period of the previous year. The absolute value of the index stood at 43.8 points.
In Q2, FY25 the order backlog reached 3.9 months of guaranteed production (up from 3.6 months in the first quarter). It is also worth noting that, on average, companies in the sector used only 55 per cent of their production capacity in H1, FY25. Utilization is expected to reach 60 per cent in the H2, FY25.
Marco Salvadè, President, ACIMIT, quips, signals from the domestic market are encouraging, but concerns about the future remain. Demand in Italy is still weak. The increase recorded between April and June will need to be confirmed over the course of the year.”
A general climate of uncertainty persists on the foreign front due not only to US tariffs imposed on the EU, but also to the broader geopolitical situation, adds Salvade. Combined with a significant depreciation of the euro against the dollar, the 15 per cent duty may have varying negative impacts on the firm’s exports to the US, depending on the tariff rates applied to other countries supplying technology to US textile companies.
For now, the US remains a key market for the association’s manufacturers: it was the fourth largest in 2024, with a value of over €112 million, and it continued to grow in the first four months of 2025. Also concerning is the weak demand for textile machinery in the two most important markets, China and Turkey. Italian sales from January to April 2025 declined by 32 per cent in the Chinese market and by 47 per cent in the Turkish one.
