The European federation of woodworking machinery manufacturers Eumabois said in its annual report that there were more than 1,000 companies in Europe with a total employment of 35,000. Revenues across the board fell by 7.5% to €5,359m from 2012 with the biggest shares held by Germany at 42% and Italy at 29%.
Latest figures from Acimall, the Italian woodworking machinery association, revealed a strong increase in orders among its members during the spring. Orders in the Italian market grew almost 33% in the second quarter of 2014, compared with the same three months in 2013. Sales abroad were up 25.8%.
Acimall warned that the increase was seen against a “remarkably depressed” period at the start of the year, however, forward orders had increased to almost three months from 2.5 and prices were up 0.8%.
The European sector is characterised by a very strong exporting trend – about 30% is sold abroad, Eumabois said. Last year the purchase of machinery from abroad, however, increased about fourteen percentage points to €616m.
