If such an increase continues at 10% on an annual basis the total 2016 turnover would exceed the €2000bn threshold getting close to €2.1bn that represents the industry’s all-time record, says Acimall, the Italian woodworking machinery and tool manufacturers’ association.

"We can say with confidence that a great contribution to this result was given by the recent Xylexpo, our biennial exhibition," said Lorenzo Primultini, president of Acimall and of the exhibition.

"Xylexpo has always been an international event with a global scope, but once again it was the ‘home exhibition’ of ‘made in Italy’, an opportunity that Italian companies were able to leverage to meet industry operators from all over the world coming to Milan."