Machine Market Poland: Good economic situation a boost for Polish machinery industry

Positive feedback from the Polish economy over the last few months, especially the growing economic situation in the industrial processing sector, are promises of bright future for the machinery industry in Poland, and it can be almost for sure assumed now that 2017 will be the fourth consecutive year to see the record numbers of machines and equipment sold.

Although the machinery and equipment industry in Poland has recorded production growth since 2014, it is noteworthy to see its marked slowdown between 2015 and 2016. During that period, the production volume increased, but only at a rate of 3.6-3.8%. Almost 20 per cent increase in the last three years can be attributed mainly to the very prosperous year of 2014. It was when the production increased by over 10%.

2017: Very good beginning

The first months of 2017 have brought not only a promise to repeat this result, but even to beat it significantly. In the first quarter of this year, the sales of machines and equipment increased by nearly 14%, while in the same period of 2016, a 3.6% decrease was recorded. Such a huge increase is a result of the above-mentioned improvement of the economic situation in the whole industry faced from the beginning of this year.

According to the Central Statistical Office (GUS), 14 out of 23 industrial processing sectors have recorded better results after the first quarter than they did a year ago. The following three recorded a slightly lower production dynamics but with a marked slowdown in the downward trend.

Production growth in the first three months of the year was achieved mainly thanks to existing pro-duction capacity reserves. Uncertain about the economic situation in the country, the entrepreneurs were reluctant to invest more. At present, however, they will rather have no choice. Firstly, they have already used up their reserves and, secondly, the economic situation encourages investing. In this situation, the manufacturers of machinery and equipment meet an exciting opportunity to win new contracts which, in long run, should translate into improvement in the financial performance of the entire industry, which was not at its best in 2016. Despite the increase in sales to over PLN 40 billion, the net profit was 6.1% lower and the profitability index decreased by 0.5 percentage point.

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