Italian Eyewear Sees Solid Year Ahead

MILAN — Italy’s eyewear industry appears headed for a strong year, helped by robust economic growth in key export markets like the U.S. and China, low oil prices, a strengthening dollar and a hoped-for pickup in domestic demand. These were the key messages set out by Italy’s Optical Goods Manufacturers Association (ANFAO) on the eve of this year’s MIDO international eyewear trade fair in Milan. At the MIDO presentation conference on Feb. 27, Cirillo Marcolin, president of both ANFAO and MIDO, said that Italy’s eyewear industry ended 2014 with total production at 3.18 billion euros, or $3.56 billion at current exchange, up 9.4 percent from 2013 and marking the fifth consecutive year of growth. Exports, which are worth some 90 percent of total Italian production, were up — also for the fifth year in a row — almost 12 percent, reaching 3.1 billion euros, or $3.5 billion, a new record. Another important boost to the industry’s prospects could come from the eventual passage of important free-trade deals like the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership between the U.S. and the EU, according to Carlo Calenda, Italy’s vice minister for economic affairs, who also spoke at the MIDO conference. Calenda pointed out that the potential

Follow WWD on Twitter or become a fan on Facebook.

Read More...



from WWD » Recent Stories http://ift.tt/1A9h2dM

via IFTTT