MILAN, Apr 18 (Class Editori) -- Italian exports in the first two months of 2019 were mainly supported by fashion in China, machine tools in India and Japan, and food in Germany. In spite of the global slowdown, they represented an overall growth of 3.2%, reaching +3.4% in February compared to the previous month, and +3.1% compared to the performance of the whole 2018.
Figures are given by Sace Simest, the export hub of the Cdp group. The analysts of the study office directed by Alessandro Terzulli pointed out that "this is a good sign for the Made in Italy, considering the European and international economic situation, which is slowing down compared to the previous year. However, the partial nature of the data requires caution". The next few months will be the testing ground to prove the resilience of Italian exports, which in 2018 reached a total of over 463 billion euros, guaranteeing a trade surplus of 38,9 billion euros.
Exports to the EU area grew at a moderate pace, with France and Germany among the best destinations. Conversely, exports to Poland and the Czech Republic, two of the best performer markets in 2018, decreased. Sales fell in Spain, though with significant exceptions depending on the sectors. In the non-EU area, the countries that have recorded the best purchasing performances from Italy are Switzerland (+14.7%), India (+12.2%) and, surprisingly, Japan (+10,5%). Exports to China grew by 2.8%, just over €13 billion in 2018, slightly down compared to the previous year, while flows to sub-Saharan Africa and Mercosur, the customs union of the South American countries, are in decline.
Also, the data on product sectors have interesting innovations in store. The most significant regards the sales performance of mechanical engineering, the main Italian export sector, which grew by +4.1%, with increases of around 20% in India, Japan and the United States.
Sales abroad of the consumer goods grouping recorded the most significant increase (+7.6%) mainly due to non-durable goods (+8.6%), whereas the durables advanced to 2.5%. Exports of intermediate goods settled at +2.8%. The grouping of capital goods reached +2.7%, with an improvement compared to January which saw an increase of 1.4%. Among the best performing sectors are two excellences of Made in Italy, food and fashion. Food exports grew by 7.8% mainly due to performances in Germany, Romania and the ASEAN countries. Fashion recorded strong increases in sales in China, France and Switzerland. The decline in the motor vehicles export reflects the hard time experienced by the sector.
It should also be noted that pharmaceuticals and means of transport (excluding motor vehicles) are experiencing a favorable time. Exports to the United States benefited above all from the contribution of the shipbuilding and pharmaceutical industries, but the positive trend involves other sectors as well. The significant increase in sales to London demonstrates a stock effect in view of Brexit developments. Exports to Turkey are rapidly declining due to the current recession of the country and the considerable depreciation of the lira, which is slowly recovering from the lows of last August.
(Source:Class Editori)
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A single purchase
