The Association of Italian Textile Machinery Manufacturers (ACIMIT), Milan, reports orders received
by Italian machinery manufacturers at the recent ITMA Asia + CITME in Shanghai exceeded
expectations. Italy was the third-best-represented country at the show, behind China and Germany,
with 115 exhibitors showing their technology to visitors. Italian exhibitors occupied some
4,000 square meters of floor space. A total of 67 Italian companies also chose to exhibit under the
“Made in Italy” banner, an initiative created by the Italian Institute for Foreign Trade and the
Ministry for Economic Development.
“The second edition of ITMA Asia + CITME, … confirmed the recovery underway in the world’s
primary textile manufacturing markets,” said Sandro Salmoiraghi, president, ACIMIT. “[Italian]
exports to Asia for the first three months of the year grew 41 percent compared to 2009. In China,
sales of Italian machinery recorded a 110-percent increase, and 78 percent in India. The orders
collected at [ITMA Asia + CITME 2010] by many of our manufacturers clearly confirm that we’re on
our way to a recovery with respect to previous levels for 2009. We are returning from this trade
fair with a few more reasons to be hopeful for the future of our industry.”
According to ACIMIT, the mix of visitors to ITMA Asia + CITME from all Asian countries
indicate the recovery is driven by Asian manufacturers, and not just those in China. Foreign
visitors came from countries and regions such as India, Pakistan, Japan, Thailand, Taiwan and Korea
with 20 percent of visitors attending from outside of China compared with only 10 percent at the
previous edition in 2008.
Salmoiraghi said sustainability issues are leading current research programs at ACIMIT. The
machinery organization hosted a press conference at ITMA Asia + CITME to educate visitors on its
eco-sustainability project. “This project aims to achieve a green eco tag on which a manufacturer
can assert the energy/environmental properties of each machine produced,” Salmoiraghi said.
“Awaiting full realization of this project, visitors at ITMA Asia + CITME in the meantime were able
to verify the extent to which Italian machinery builders have made inroads on this front, with the
stands of 38 Italian machinery manufacturers displaying the ‘Sustainable Technologies’ logo.”
July 21, 2010