Cecimo, the European Association of the Machine Tool Industries, presented the sector state-of-the-art. Together with the European economy, the European machine tool production also intensified in 2014: it grew by 1.3% to reach 23 billion euro. The industry is affected by two opposing trends. First, a slowdown in emerging markets causes that these countries reduce their investment in industrial machinery. Secondly, growth is relatively stable in developed markets like Europe and North America, which implies more investment in industrial machinery. Both trends considered, the European machine tool production is estimated to increase to 23.6 billion euro in 2015 (+3%). Despite the slowdown of global economic growth, the exports still perform well. Machine tools with a total value of 18.2 billion euro were shipped abroad in 2014. Cecimo expects the exports to grow by 3% to 18.7 billion euro in 2015, which would be the second best result of all times. “Rising wages in the emerging economies put pressure on production costs. The European machine tool industry focuses on productivity and high efficiency that gives us our competitive edge. Our highly innovative, state-of-the-art machines are in demand all over the world because they offer intelligent and cost efficient manufacturing solutions – explained Frank Brinken, the Chairman of Cecimo Economic Committee -. Cecimo imports rose to 8.8 billion euro in 2014. The weak euro will slow down the growth of imports but we estimate that the European industry’s needs will push the machine tool imports to 9.2 billion euro this year (+3%)”. After two years of stagnation, the European investments of businesses picked up in 2014. The European machine tool consumption expanded by 10% in 2014 to 13.7 billion euro. The consumption is expected to increase and record 14.2 billion euro in 2015. The improving demand in European markets is confirmed by the strong order intake. In the second quarter of 2015, the Cecimo domestic orders index increased by 6% and 14% in comparison with the previous quarter and the same quarter last year respectively. Cecimo expects the European machine tool consumption to grow for the next four years.
