The trend of woodworking and furniture industry technology continues to be strong, according to the results of Acimall’s periodical trend survey.

The figures processed by the Studies Office of Acimall, the Confindustria member association representing woodworking industry companies, are clear: the third quarter 2017 closed with an order increase of 42.9 percent compared to the same period of last year. Orrders increased 31.9 percent in April-June, based on a comparison between the same quarter this year and last year.

A good trend was also recorded by foreign orders, achieving 51.5 percent growth (versus 34.8 in the previous quarter); Italy also did well, after some “second thoughts” at the beginning of the year, waiting for the application guidelines of the recent Industria 4.0 plan by the Italian government,with orders up by 19.7 percent (versus 18.7 in Q2).

The survey by the association of woodworking and wood-based materials machinery manufacturers reports an orders book spanning 3.4 months (versus three in the previous quarter). Since January 1, prices have recorded a stable trend, at 1.1 percent (up from 0.9 last June 30); turnover increased substantially, by more than 17.5 percent compared to the July-September 2016 period.

Moderate optimism is also emerging from the forecast survey: 32 percent of respondents expect expanding orders from abroad in the short term, while 68 percent predict a stationary trend. The final balance is plus 32, versus plus 50 in the previous quarter. The domestic market is expanding according to 21 percent of the sample, it will remain stable according to 63 percent and shrink according to 16 percent (final balance is plus 5, versus plus 7 in the April-June term).