REGIONAL REPORT
According to the research carried out by CTNA – The National Aerospace Technology Cluster – and Confindustria, Italy’ s national aerospace sector is worth over 21.4 billion euros in turnover, employs 54,300 employees and invests about 5 % of revenues in research and development. The supply chain is made up of more than 80 % of highly specialised small and medium-sized enterprises throughout the national territory.
The project looks to the space economy as well as the defence, cybersecurity, civil aviation and shipbuilding sectors requiring high levels of technology and a growing integration between civil and military applications.
‘ Aerospace, Defence and Security’ is the first concrete application of the platform. The project will continue with a series of territorial events in the second half of 2026 and during 2027, with the aim of progressively extending the model to other strategic supply chains.
Italy was represented by 70 companies, including 13 in the ITA( Italian Trade Agency) pavilion, at Hannover Messe( a key trade show for industrial technologies) in April this year. The companies presented solutions across various production areas, showcasing the variety and innovative capacity of Italian industry. They covered a broad spectrum of key sectors such as mechanical engineering; hydraulics; industrial filtration; precision metalworking; electronics and aerospace technologies; as well as applications linked to artificial intelligence, extended reality and digital platforms.
Machine tools and metal working
According to UCIMU SISTEMI PER PRODURRE( the Italian manufacturing association for machine tools, robots and automation systems), the year 2025 turned out to be generally weak for the Italian manufacturing industry of machine tools, robots and automation systems. It saw production remain substantially stable compared to the previous year. The disappointing result, it said, was due to the sharp downturn in exports. A better performance was achieved in the Italian domestic market, driven by demand recovery. However, despite the double-digit increases, the figures remained far below the levels attained in 2021-2022.
“ Nevertheless, once again, the Italian industry of the sector proved to be among the key players on the international stage, holding fifth place worldwide for production and consumption and ranking fourth for exports. Our forecasts for 2026 estimate a modest recovery driven by an improvement in performance in the domestic market, also due to the availability of the Hyper-depreciation measure. Overseas sales are likely to remain weak,” said UCIMU on 7 July 2026.
According to the final data processed by UCIMU, in 2025, the Italian production of machine tools, robots and automation systems rose by
A new project aims to build and strengthen Italian strategic industrial supply chains.
Image: Shutterstock. com.
The‘ Made in Steel’ exhibition in Milan.
Italy was represented by 70 companies, including 13 in the ITA( Italian Trade Agency) pavilion, at Hannover Messe
1 % over 2024. A significant drop was recorded in exports, decreasing by 12 %. The export-production ratio decreased to 58.8 %, compared to 67.5 % in 2024.
“ In 2025, the main export markets for the Italian product offering were: the United States(-9 %); Germany(-24.9 %); France(+ 0.2 %); Poland(+ 11.2 %); Turkey(-11.5 %); India(-11.6 %); Mexico(-10 %); Spain(-6.5 %); China(-54.1 %) and Brazil(+ 15.9 %). After two years of decline, Italian manufacturers’ deliveries to the domestic market started to grow again, corresponding to 28.1 % more than in the previous year. This performance was driven by domestic consumption, which increased by 22.3 %,” added UCIMU.
Imports, it said, increased by 15.1 % over 2024. The share of domestic consumption covered by overseas supply went down by three percentage points to 42 %. A downturn was reported in the capacity utilisation rate, whose annual average changed from 77.3 % in 2024 to 76.5 % in 2025. The same trend was recorded for the order portfolio, which stood at 6.3 months of guaranteed production versus 6.5 months in 2024.
As shown in the forecasts provided by UCIMU, the year 2026 will see a slight recovery for the Italian manufacturing industry of machine tools, robots and automation systems.
“ All indicators are expected to return to positive territory, but the increases should still be modest. Production should increase by 3.9 %. Exports should remain at the same level as in the previous year. The positive trend observed in manufacturers’ deliveries to the domestic market will continue. Deliveries are expected to increase by 8.5 %, driven by Italian demand. Imports will also record a positive upswing( 5.9 %),” confirmed UCIMU.
“ The availability of the Hyper-Depreciation measure introduced by the new Transition 5.0 Plan, which is now fully operational, is an excellent tool to support Italian demand for new machine tools. In this first actual month of Hyper-Depreciation, after the GSE Incentive Platform became operational, we have already observed a shift in the attitude of our Italian customers. This confirms our long-held position: there is demand in Italy, but customers have been awaiting clear guidelines to finalise their orders,” it explained, adding that the incentive is working well.
“ Despite the delay, the Ministry deserves credit for introducing a userfriendly measure with a three-year duration. At last, Italian enterprises have an industrial policy measure at their disposal, which enables medium-term planning for both manufacturers and investors. We hope that its implementation will enable Italian demand to return to the high levels achieved in 2021-2022, thus ensuring the necessary technological upgrading of our industry. This process requires constant innovation to remain competitive in the global market, where digital technology and AI are redefining the rules of the game,” concluded UCIMU.
Key Italian metal working and manufacturing trade shows include LAMIERA and Made in Steel( every two years); BI-MU( this September) and EMO( in Milan next year). n
66 | ismr. net | ISMR September 2026