Italy year-end review 2023: Textile machinery in limelight

For Italy, textile machinery remained in the limelight in 2023, firstly as a host nation of ITMA 2023, followed by its active participation in ITMA Asia + CITME 2022 in China.

ITMA 2023

The International Textile and Garment Technology Exhibition (ITMA) 2023 was held at the Milano Rho fairgrounds, and was a remarkable showcase of textile machinery innovations, attracting 1,709 exhibitors and 111,000 visitors from 143 countries. The event revolved around sustainability and digitisation, addressing the surging demand for eco-friendly products and efficient manufacturing via digital transformation. Italy’s textile machinery sector, recognised for its global presence, invested significantly in promoting the industry, emphasising sustainability, digitisation, and technology under the campaign ‘Shaping the Future’.

The event honoured students from countries engaged with Italian Textile Training Technology Centers. Sustainability has long been a focal point for Italian manufacturers, striving to offer eco-friendly and cost-effective solutions. ACIMIT (the Association of Italian Textile Machinery Manufacturers) recognised Pafasystem (a company specialising in spinning machines), and Brazzoli (a company specialising in fabric dyeing technologies) for their substantial reduction in carbon footprint emissions, underlining the textile industry’s commitment to sustainability and innovation.

ITMA Asia+CITME 2022

A total of 59 Italian machinery manufacturers exhibited at the ITMA Asia+CITME 2022, held in Shanghai between November 19 and 23, 2023. The event was postponed for a year in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic in China. Of these 59 manufacturers, 26 presented technological innovations as part of the National Sector Groups, organised by ACIMIT – the Association of Italian Textile Machinery Manufacturers, and ITA – Italian Trade Agency. Occupying an area of around 2,000 square metres, Italy was among the major foreign exhibiting countries at the event. Asia remained a major destination for Italy’s textile machinery manufacturers, as 38 per cent of all Italian textile machinery exports to Asian markets valued at €338 million. China, in particular, is an absolutely important market for Italian companies – the first in Asia and the second worldwide behind Turkiye. In the first six months of 2023, Italian machinery sold in China reached a value of €81 million.

Other highlights of 2023

In June 2023, Italy's seasonally-adjusted data showed exports increased by 0.4 per cent and imports decreased by 3.3 per cent

For the EU, exports rose by 0.5 per cent and imports by 4.9 per cent, while non-EU showed 0.3 per cent jump in exports and 14.5 per cent drop in imports

The 3-month trend fell by 3.2 per cent in exports, 3.5 per cent in imports

After a brilliant first quarter (+11.4 per cent), Italian fashion entered a phase of deceleration and estimated to end the year with a 4.5 per cent increase, reaching sales of €103.28 billion, as per Italian National Chamber of Fashion (CNMI)

In textiles, clothing, leather goods and footwear alone, Italian exports rose 6.5 per cent between January and May, jumping in particular by 18.8 per cent to France (+4.3 per cent to the EU)

Exports to China and Japan soared by 18.4 per cent, and by 8.9 per cent to Hong Kong, but only by 4 per cent to South Korea

The textile machinery orders index, as processed by the Economics Department of ACIMIT, dropped fully 20 per cent during Q3, 2023, compared to the same period in 2022. In absolute terms, the index stood at 84.2 points (basis: 2015=100). This result was due to a reduction in new orders recorded by manufacturers both in the domestic market and abroad.

Fibre2Fashion News Desk (WE SB)