In the second quarter of 2025, the “Italian textile machinery order Index” compiled by the Research Department of ACIMIT – the Association of Italian Textile Machinery Manufacturers, showed a slight decline compared to the same period in 2024 (-1%). In absolute terms, the index stood at 47.1 points (base 2021=100).
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. Marco Salvadè, President of ACIMIT
Trends on foreign markets
The result was determined by the increase in orders received on the domestic market, which almost fully offset the decline observed on foreign markets.
In particular, orders received on the domestic market increased by 38% compared to the second quarter of 2024, for an absolute value of 70.9 points.
On the foreign market, orders received fell by 7% compared to the same period last year. The absolute value of the index stood at 43.8 points.
In the second quarter, the order book reached 3.9 months of guaranteed production (compared to 3.6 months in the first quarter). It should also be noted that companies in the sector used an average of just 55% of their production capacity in the first half of the year. The utilisation level for the second half of 2025 is expected to reach 60%.
On the foreign front, there remains a situation of general uncertainty, attributable not only to the US tariffs imposed on the EU, but also to the overall geopolitical situation.
The 15% tariff, combined with a significant devaluation of the dollar against the euro, could have a more or less negative impact on our exports to the United States, depending on the tariffs applied to other countries that supply technology to US textile companies.
For now, the US remains a market of absolute importance for Italian manufacturers: the fourth largest in 2024, worth over €112 million, and growing in the first four months of 2025 (+3%).
Another source of concern is the weak demand for textile machinery in the two most important markets, China and Turkey. Italian sales in the January-April 2025 period fell by 32% in the Chinese market and by 47% in the Turkish market.Marco Salvadè, President of ACIMIT
