Assocomaplast (the Italian trade association belonging to CONFINDUSTRIA, which groups together some 165 makers of machinery, molds and equipment for plastics and rubber) has issued its report on the sector's performance in 2012 – based also on the Italian National Institute of Statistics - ISTAT foreign trade statistics. Even more than in the past – and more markedly than in other Italian…

ASSAGO, ITALY  -- Italian plastics and rubber machinery makers expect to produce 4.2 billion euros ($5.5 billion) in equipment this year, with exports of 2.6 billion euros ($3.45 billion), according to Italy's plastic and rubber machinery association Assocomaplast. The association examined imports and exports from the first nine months of the year and found that exports increased 9…