Italy’s Mechanical Engineering Industry Under Pressure: 3D Printing Investments Also Suffer from Weak Exports

After a difficult year in 2024, the Italian industry for machine tools, robotics, and automation systems has failed to achieve a sustained recovery in 2025 as well. This also applies to industrial 3D printing, which, as part of modern manufacturing chains, is closely linked to overall investment activity in mechanical engineering. Preliminary data and forecasts from UCIMU–Sistemi per Produrre show that while the sector managed slight growth, it remains well below previous levels.

Riccardo Rosa, President of UCIMU, commented as follows: “After a truly difficult year in 2024, 2025 has confirmed itself as a year of turning point, marking the transition from negative figures to production growth—albeit very modest. In fact, contrary to expectations, exports weighed heavily on the overall result. International geopolitical instability, ongoing conflicts in Europe and the Middle East, President Trump’s tariff war, and the resulting new (dis)order in global trade have put strong pressure on our exports.

Better than expected, however, was the performance of Italian machine tool manufacturers on the domestic market, where only a small portion of the ground lost over the previous two years could be recovered. Decisive factors here were the difficulties associated with the ‘Transizione 5.0’ measure, which was launched with unforgivable delays, had to be revised several times, and only became truly easy to use in the final months of its duration before being abruptly terminated more than a month ahead of the originally scheduled end date of December 31.”

Total production by Italian manufacturers amounted to approximately EUR 6.42 billion in 2025, representing an increase of 1.5 percent. This slight growth was primarily restrained by a sharp decline in exports, which fell by more than 13 percent to EUR 3.71 billion. Providers of additive manufacturing systems were also affected, as they traditionally rely heavily on foreign business. Key markets such as the United States and Germany weakened, noticeably dampening demand for capital goods, including industrial 3D printing solutions.

“Despite the numerous difficulties encountered,” President Rosa continued, “the results achieved nevertheless confirmed the value of 5.0—just like 4.0—as an instrument for promoting investment in new production technologies in Italy.”

“We hope that the support measures envisaged by the government, currently under discussion as part of the drafting of the 2026 budget law, will indeed be easy to apply and quickly operational. We Italian machine tool manufacturers,” the UCIMU President went on, “are simply calling for clarity and immediacy. For the measure to be effective, it must involve little bureaucracy and be approved and available within the first weeks of the new year. Only in this way can the instrument—which appears sensible on paper—deliver real benefits to the country’s manufacturing sector.”

“Against this backdrop,” Riccardo Rosa added, “we very much welcome the government’s recent announcement to adopt a multi-year approach to the measure. Having a framework available from 2026 through 2028 is undoubtedly a prudent decision, as it enables customer companies to plan their investments and manufacturers to organize production and optimally align workloads with their production capacity.”

By contrast, the Italian domestic market had a stabilizing effect. Domestic consumption of machine tools and automation solutions rose significantly in 2025, also supporting deliveries of 3D printing systems for prototyping and small series. Nevertheless, this development was not sufficient to fully offset export losses. The export-to-production ratio fell further to below 58 percent, a critical level for a sector that is strongly internationally oriented.

“At the international level, the slowdown of certain markets—starting with Germany, which has been hit hard by the crisis in the automotive industry—sales difficulties in the United States, our most important export market, as a result of tariffs, and the closure of particularly promising regions such as Russia are forcing even more intensive efforts to expand trade relations with both traditional and so-called ‘alternative’ regions, including the countries of the Mercosur area. For this reason,” Riccardo Rosa continued, “it is discouraging to read in the newspapers that Italy is among the countries questioning the continuation of the process toward concluding the EU–Mercosur agreement, which is effectively in its final phase. To back out now, at such a delicate moment for international trade, would be a serious mistake.”

“Also on the basis of this agreement, over the past two years the association has intensified its initiatives for Latin American countries. In addition to exploratory missions carried out in Brazil, aimed at strengthening partnerships with the local system of institutions, companies, and representative bodies, UCIMU has initiated interesting discussions with Argentina’s industrial associations, intended to pave the way for new cooperation between the industries of both countries. Furthermore,” President Rosa added, “we have not overlooked the so-called partner and observer states associated with the agreement, in the belief that they too can offer interesting opportunities for our companies. Among the Mercosur-associated countries, we have devoted particular attention to Chile, where, following an exploratory mission, a project to develop a technology center involving local universities is being examined. Among the observer states, meanwhile, our focus is on Mexico, where since early 2025 the ‘Oficina Italiana de Promoción México’ has been active—a desk that supports Italian companies in entering and expanding in this market, which is also significant for Central and North America.”

For 2026, the UCIMU Study Center expects a cautious recovery. Production is forecast to rise moderately to around EUR 6.59 billion, driven by slightly positive export impulses and continued growth in domestic demand. Riccardo Rosa, however, points to ongoing uncertainties caused by geopolitical tensions, trade conflicts, and unstable funding conditions. Clear, long-term, and predictable frameworks are particularly crucial for investments in new manufacturing technologies such as industrial 3D printing, in order to reliably restart innovation projects.

“With regard to Asia, India and the countries of Southeast Asia are particularly in focus for us, as they are characterized by very strong growth and a positive attitude toward our companies. This is evidenced by the dynamism of the activities supported by the association: from Desk India to the ITC-India network and the IMT-Vietnam network, both of which have recently been renewed.”

“Looking at Europe, we hope—while waiting to see how the German economy and manufacturing sector will respond to the measures taken by the Merz government—that the EU will intervene to adjust the timelines and modalities of the transition to green mobility, in order to avoid the risk of industrial desertification of the Old Continent. From our perspective, the principle of technological neutrality is the only appropriate response to this situation.”