Italian manufacturing industry to restart growth in 2015: study

The Italian manufacturing industry is estimated to close 2014 with a slight worsening of sales and to restart growth in 2015, according to a joint study presented Tuesday by the Prometeia think tank and Intesa Sanpaolo bank.

Sales performance at the end of this year will be 0.2 percent down on 2013 levels, due to a worsening of the Italian and European economic scenario, according to the study.

Prometeia and Intesa Sanpaolo predicted that growth of the Italian manufacturing industry will restart from next year, with an expected 1.8-percent increase of sales in 2015 and an expected 1.9-percent increase in 2016.

The next two years' results, however, will be still far from allowing a recovery of the manufacturing industry, which has registered an overall 5.5-percent fall during the 2012-2014 recession, equal to a 45 billion euros (56 billion U.S. dollars) loss on 2011 sales volumes.

The Italian manufacturers' exports will continue to grow at a more vibrant rhythm than international competitors, also supported by favorable exchange rates, with an expected 3.6-percent growth on average over the next two years, according to the study.

Prometeia and Intesa Sanpaolo expected that sales on foreign markets will be especially driven by electro-technics and mechanics along with metallurgy and automotive.

However, despite the positive export performance registered in recent years and predicted for the future, purchases of machinery and means of transport were expected to further shrink in 2014, weakening the relation between export and investment, which is seen as fundamental to stimulating recovery.