December 23, 2025 15:03

Italy’s plastics and rubber processing machinery industry is set to close the year with an output drop of around 5%, penalized by falling exports, which were down 6% in the first nine months of the year.

The estimate comes from the Mecs-Amaplast Research Center, the Italian industry association, based on Istat foreign trade data.
Sector exports account for roughly three-quarters of the industry’s total turnover.
On this basis, and considering a 16% increase in imports into Italy (January–September), Amaplast believes that growth in domestic sales cannot fill the gap opened by the slump in exports.

The analysis also confirms the four-year cyclicality of sector exports, which, after the strong post-pandemic rebound, have hit a pause this year due to a turbulent international backdrop, weak macroeconomic trends, trade tensions and ongoing conflicts—factors that all weigh negatively on investment appetites in many markets.

“If the preliminary figures for the domestic market are positive,” says Amaplast President Massimo Margaglione (pictured), “this is also a consequence of government incentives, despite difficulties in accessing the Transizione 5.0 measure and the sudden depletion of funds earmarked for Industria 4.0. Italian plastics machinery manufacturers are nonetheless looking with concern at the global geopolitical context, above all because the climate of uncertainty forces companies to be cautious when planning investments.”
“Our hope,” Margaglione continues, “is that governments and supranational institutions will swiftly adopt balancing policies and corrective measures to mitigate trade tensions and, of course, bring an end to outright conflicts that continue to threaten global stability.”

Drilling down into exports, Amaplast notes a slowdown in sales flows to all major geographic regions, with the exception of Asia, driven by the two largest destinations in the region: China, up 22%, and India, up 53%.

Sales by Italian manufacturers in the European market fell by seven points compared with January–September 2024, with lower deliveries to Germany, France, Turkey, the Czech Republic, Switzerland and Austria.

In North America, the picture is mixed: Sales to the United States held up (up 5%)—despite uncertainty fueled by tariffs—while Mexico slumped (down 41%) after four years of strong growth.
In South America, shipments to Brazil fell sharply (down 37%), while they increased to other countries with a sizeable processing industry such as Argentina (up 61%) and Chile (up 75%).

Finally, on the African continent, exports to Egypt rose (up 19%) in the Mediterranean belt, while in sub-Saharan Africa, Kenya and Nigeria ended the third quarter in positive territory and South Africa halved its purchases.

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