“The Textile Care, Fabric and Leather Technologies sector is experiencing good growth this year: In the months from January to August 2017, the German manufacturers were able to report an increase in order intake of 22.2 per cent in real terms compared to the previous year ", explained Elgar Straub, Managing Director of VDMA Textile Care, Fabric and Leather Technologies, at the industry meeting and the general assembly of the trade association in Coccaglio, Italy. Sales recorded only a slight year-on-year decline of 2.1 per cent in real terms. Manufacturers of sewing and garment technology, shoe and leather technology, laundry and textile cleaning technology as well as machines for processing technical textiles were already able to increase their exports by 5.6 per cent from Euro883 million (2015) to Euro932 million (2016) by 2016. The most important export markets in 2016 were Poland, the USA and Italy.
For the first time in its 125-year history, the industry meeting and the assembly meeting of a VDMA trade association does not take place in Germany, but in another European countryâ€Â, said Günter Veit, Chairman
The German Engineering Federation (VDMA) represents more than 3,200 primarily medium-sized companies in the capital goods industry and is thus the largest industrial association in Europe. With more than 1 million employees in Germany and a turnover of around Euro215 billion (2016), the industry is Germany’s largest industrial employer and one of the leading industrial sectors overall.