Italian textile machinery orders signalled a gradual recovery in Q2 2026, rising 25 per cent from the previous quarter despite a slight year-on-year decline.
Stronger overseas demand continued to support the sector, while domestic investment remained weak.
Stable production backlogs and capacity use near 80 per cent suggested a steady outlook for the second half of 2026.
On the operational front, the total backlog accumulated by companies currently guarantees about 3.5 months of assured production, while the capacity utilization rate stood at 79.7%.
Analysing the dynamics of individual production sectors compared to the first quarter of the year, order trends in the domestic market were growing or stationary across all segments, with sharp increases in spinning and weaving. In international markets, positive growth prevailed particularly in the weaving, knitting, and finishing sectors.
Regarding sales forecasts for the third quarter of 2026, company expectations point to substantial stability in volumes compared to the previous period; caution prevails in the domestic market, while expectations on foreign markets are balanced between increases and decreases, reflecting cautious optimism.
Marco Salvadè, president of ACIMIT, commented: “Despite the international uncertainty, it is comforting that the indicator, albeit slightly, is positive in the foreign market, given that about 80% of our order intake comes from international countries. The context of the domestic market is different, as it suffers both from comparison with a positive second quarter of 2025 and from the new 2026-2028 hyper-depreciation incentive launched in June, whose effects are not yet visible in terms of investments.
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Fibre2Fashion News Desk (JP)
