Extrusion International 4-2026

16 Extrusion International 4/2026 INDUSTRY NEWS 2025 Year-End Results for the Plastics and Rubber Machinery Industry The annual Amaplast Member As- sembly was held on Tuesday, 30 June 2026. Amaplast is a trade association af liated with CONFINDUSTRIA that brings together over 170 manufac- turers of machinery, equipment, and moulds for plastics and rubber. On this occasion, President Massimo Margaglione reviewed the performance of the industry in his annual address, commenting on the ndings of the sixth edition of the Na - tional Statistical Survey conducted by the MECS-Amaplast Research Centre. The survey covered 435 manufactur - ing companies, employing almost 15,300 people, which generated total turnover of 4.62 billion euros in 2025 (-4.2%), with exports accounting for 73% of sales. In terms of company size, the larg- est category (around one-third of the total) represents the smallest businesses, with annual turnover not exceeding 2.5 million euros, collec- tively accounting for a modest 3.8% of total industry sales value. At the opposite end of the scale, the largest companies (annual turnover exceed- ing 50 millions) represent just 2.5% of the total but generate 29% of the total value of sales. Once again, the survey con rms that average turnover per employee increases with company size, as does proportion of exports, exceeding 84% among the largest companies, as opposed to 46% for the smallest. Similarly, larger compa- nies, bene ting from well-established commercial organizations, tend to serve more distant markets, whereas smaller businesses generally concen- trate on European destinations. With regard to client industries, the overall picture remains broadly stable compared with previous years. The largest share of turnover is gener- ated by sales to the packaging sector (approximately 31% from food pack- aging and 16% from non-food pack- aging, both showing slight growth), followed by automotive, which de- clined slightly to 14%, construction at 11%, and medical applications at 5%, both remaining broadly stable. In terms of machinery categories, excluding the heterogeneous "other machinery" segment, extruders and relevant downstream equipment re- main the largest product group, ac- counting for 18.2% of total industry turnover. They are followed by auxil- iary equipment at 14.6%, and moulds and dies at 9.2%. Exports, historically the industry's principal growth driver, declined by 5% compared with 2024 after four consecutive years of expansion, set- tling at a total value of 3.41 billion euros, according to ISTAT data. It is worth noting that, from the low point recorded in 2020, export ows had re - bounded by 32% by the end of 2024. Looking at the main destination re- gions, Italian manufacturers recorded the strongest export growth in the Far East (averaging around +12%), driven by the excellent performance of the two largest markets, China (+8%) and India (+40%). Within the European Union, ex- ports remained broadly stable over- all, although the two leading desti- nations – Germany (-4%) and France (-12%) – both showed a downward trend. Germany continues to experi- ence a dif cult market environment, with conditions proving even more challenging than those faced by Ital- ian machinery manufacturers. The decline in technology supplies to German plastics processors, com- bined with the simultaneous increase in exports to the United States (+9%, despite the dif culties and uncertain - ties caused by the introduction of tar- iffs), has brought the US virtually level with Germany as the leading destina- tion for Italian exports in the sector, with exports to each market amount- ing to around 380 million euros. Such a narrow gap between the two coun- tries is a completely novelty. Elsewhere in the Americas, while the US market remained resilient, ex- ports to Mexico declined by 32%, al- though the country had experienced exceptionally strong growth during the preceding period. Further south, the dif cult econom - ic situation in Brazil weighed heavily on performance, with Italian exports falling by 45%, a decline only partially offset by the recovery in demand from Argentina (+32%). Given the challenging regional envi- ronment, the 20% decline in exports to the Middle East is unsurprising. Across Africa, however, performance was mixed: exports to Mediterranean President Massimo Margaglione