It is gathering data from companies that develop machinery, technologies, materials and services for one of the most important Italian industrial fields: packaging.
According to the Observatory results, companies seem to be confident and positive about the future, even if each market is growing its own way and reacting differently to the economic crisis. The instrumentation market (including machine builders), for example, suffered for the crisis early in 2008 and began to react by the first quarters of 2009; then in 2010, it had alternate trends.
The 38 percent of companies that took part in the Observatory said they increased their revenues during the second part of 2010, 33 percent increased export sales, and 80 percent said the employment level is steady. And for the future? Most companies estimate their total revenues will increase in the first part of 201; 9 percent feel it will decrease, but the 41 percent forecast it will remain steady. There is quite the same feeling about export: 43 percent feel positive, 7 percent negative and 50 percent steady.
Ilaria De Poli, [email protected], is an editor at “Fiera Milano Editore,” a magazine covering automation and manufacturing in Italy.
