In February 2011 the production index of the US manufacturing industry recorded growth for the 18th month in a row and of course this means more investments. So it is no coincidence that imports of plastics and rubber machinery grew throughout 2010, posting a 23% increase over the previous year.
The recovery was sustained especially by injection moulding machines - up to USD 370 million - blow moulding machines and flexographic printing machines. US processors in the extrusion sector have shown noteworthy appreciation for Italian technology with imports from Italy increasing strongly, approaching pre-crisis levels, much to the detriment of the main competitors, who have watched their market shares dwindling year by year.