Although the Meat & Fish segment has displayed limited growth, it has regained ground and closed the first half of 2017 ten percentage points higher than expected. The evident improvements have led to expectations for the second half of the year being revised up, bringing to 83% the percentage of companies forecasting turnover growth.
The Pasta, Bakery & Milling sector reported growth, again more in terms of total turnover (73% of companies) than export turnover (53%). The forecasts for the current year point to more widespread growth expectations in terms of both total sales (86% of companies) and export sales (almost 3/4 of companies).
The Beverage segment confirmed its export growth forecasts (although with smaller average percentages) while revealing a better-than-expected performance in terms of total turnover, with 79% of companies reporting growth compared to the estimated 71%. The growth rates were also higher. The second half of 2017 is expected to see growth rates more or less in line with those of the first half, especially as regards companies making growth forecasts higher than 5%.
Contrary to the widely overestimated expectations for 2017, only 60% of companies in the Confectionery segment reported export growth (they had all predicted increases). This percentage rises to 80% for total sales. As a result, companies have revised down their expectations for the current half-year, which are now roughly in line with the final figures for the first six months. The same picture emerges for the Chemicals Home & Industrial segment, where the percentage of companies reporting export growth was 20 percentage points lower than expected (10 points lower in the case of total turnover growth). Exports are expected to see a stronger recovery in the current half year.
Unlike the first half results which failed to meet expectations, the Health & Personal Care segment is expected to grow in the current half year, especially in terms of export turnover (+17%). Companies also expressed a very positive sentiment with regard to the sector’s total growth.
Breaking down the trends according to types of machines or materials produced by the companies, the process machines sector saw a discrepancy between