Orders taken by Italian textile machinery manufacturers exceeded expectations at ITMA Asia + CITME, according to trade association ACIMIT.
ACIMIT president, Sandro Salmoiraghi said: “The second edition of ITMA Asia + CITME, which came to a close just last week in Shanghai, confirmed the recovery under way in the world’s primary textile manufacturing markets.
“Our exports to Asia for the first three months of the year grew 41% compared to 2009. In China, sales of Italian machinery recorded a 110% increase and 78% in India. The orders collected at the trade fair by many of our manufacturers clearly confirm that we’re on our way to a recovery, with respect to previous levels for 2009.”
Roughly 100,000 visitors attended the five-day event including large numbers from India, Japan, Taiwan, Thailand, Korea and Pakistan. At the previous edition, foreign visitors represented only 10% of total visitors, whereas the 2010 event recorded a 20% share of foreign operators, according to ACIMIT.
A total of 115 Italian machinery manufacturers were on hand to display their latest products, making Italy the third most represented country at the fair, occupying 4,000sq m of exhibition space. Italy’s four National Sector Groups proved an especially successful initiative, planned in partnership with the Italian Institute for Foreign Trade and the Ministry for Economic Development, with 67 Italian presenting their offerings within a “Made in Italy”format, said ACIMIT.
“The Chinese market is moving rapidly and pays attention to the major themes presented at the trade fair,” said Mr Salmoiraghi. “During meetings with some Chinese textile authorities, I was able to ascertain just how much China’s textile industry is now increasingly targeting issues such as sustainability, reducing its carbon footprint and the reutilisation of textile waste products. Of course, these issues are also at the forefront of our own programmes at ACIMIT.”
To this end, at the ACIMIT press conference held during the event, the association presented 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.
“Awaiting the full realisation 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.”
