Industry association UCIMU reported a record-breaking year for the Italian machine tool sector in 2018 and predicts a stable 2019.
Massimo Carboniero, president of UCIMU-SISTEMI PER PRODURRE, told a year end media conference that the Italian industry – manufacturing machine tools, robots and automation systems had – registered double-digit increases in all of its economic indicators. 2018 production value grew for the fifth consecutive year in 2018, recording a 13.4% growth year-on-year to €6.9 billion. Domestic sales by Italian producers increased by 21.1% to €3.27 billion. The overall Italian market was reckoned to have increased 25.9% to €5.62 billion.
Exports grew 7.2% to 3.63 billion. Based on ISTAT data for the first eight months of 2018 the main export destinations were Germany (€246 million: +11.6%), China (€237 million: +7.1%), United States of America (€223 million: +9.5%), Poland (€143 million +49.8%), and France (€135 million: -4.6%).
Massimo Carborniero estimated that – counting in parts, tooling and numerical controls, not included in the statistics – the sector’s turnover exceeded €9 billion.
While confident for 2019, Carborniero noted “an evident slowdown in investments by Italian users” and lobbied for the Italian government to reverse its decision to eliminate ‘super depreciation’, an instrument he said that had particularly stimulated SMEs to invest.
Having held senior management roles in leading automotive and fastener businesses, Phil joined Fastener + Fixing Magazine as editor in 2002. Convinced there is no substitute for ‘being there’, over 17 years of visits and interviews around the world means he has accumulated an extraordinary knowledge and perspective of the global fastener industry, reflected in his incisive and thought provoking reporting.
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