Domestic Demand Boosts Italy’s Textile Machinery in Q2

In the second quarter of 2025, the orders index for textile machinery—compiled by the Economics Department of ACIMIT (Association of Italian Textile Machinery Manufacturers)—showed a slight decline of 1% compared to the same period in 2024. The absolute index value stood at 47.1 points, with the base year set at 2021 (100).

This slight decline was mitigated by a significant increase in domestic demand, which nearly compensated for the contraction in foreign markets.

Orders in the domestic market rose by 38% compared to Q2 of 2024, with the index reaching 70.9 points.
Meanwhile, foreign market orders declined by 7%, with an absolute index value of 43.8 points.

During the second quarter, the order backlog grew to 3.9 months of guaranteed production, up from 3.6 months in Q1.
However, average capacity utilization for the sector in the first half of 2025 was relatively low—just 55%. This is projected to rise to 60% in the second half of the year.

Marco Salvadè, President of ACIMIT, commented:

“The signals coming 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.”

On the international front, Salvadè added:

“A general climate of uncertainty persists, due not only to U.S. tariffs imposed on the EU, but also to the broader geopolitical situation. The 15% duty, combined with a significant depreciation of the dollar against the euro, may have varying negative impacts on our exports to the U.S., depending on the tariff rates applied to other Countries supplying technology to U.S. textile companies.”

Despite the challenges, the U.S. remains a key export market for Italian textile machinery. In 2024, it ranked as the fourth-largest destination, with sales exceeding 112 million euros. The upward trend continued in the first four months of 2025, showing a 3% increase.

However, demand remains weak in two of Italy’s largest markets:

• Sales to China dropped 32% from January to April 2025.
• Sales to Turkey declined by 47% in the same period.