2012 was marked by a minus sign for the technologies dedicated to the processing of wood and its derivatives. The preliminary data elaborated by the Acimall research office confirm the difficulties encountered by the Italian industry in the sector which, over the last five years, has lost a total of around 30 percent of its turnover.
Compared to 2011 the production fell by 9,8 per cent, a figure on which both the further compression of the internal market (minus 15 per cent) and the decline in exports (minus 8 percent). No surprises, unfortunately: the new decline in the main indicators was expected, "physiological", after the rebound that exhausted its momentum in 2011, a year that ended with "interesting" data.
We must also add that the structure of the market has been transformed and, therefore, we are not faced with a trend, but with a new reality which it is essential to deal with.
“We are heavily discounting the crisis of our Italian customers,” he commented Paul Zanibon, director of Acimall, the national association of wood technology manufacturers. “The fact that in our country construction, furniture and all goods that arise from wood and its derivatives are registering a negative dynamic can only block any investment in capital goods”.
A contraction in demand confirmed by cheap imports, decreased by 13,1 percent. Therefore, the German and Chinese manufacturers of technology are also suffering, which in 2011 had achieved performances of a very different level.
Le exports they continue to be a chapter of vital importance; the 8 per cent drop, however significant, should be read in the light of a 2011 in which, as already mentioned, the "made in Italy" he had recorded a particularly favorable moment. And it is absolutely not easy for Italian entrepreneurs to operate in constantly fluctuating markets.
A LOOK TO THE FUTURE
Impossible to speculate about what the 2013. The first data seem to indicate a possible consolidation of the negative situation, which would lead to a crisis in the sector within a more global economic crisis.
“It is impossible to reverse the trend – continued Zanibon – without support from the government. The capital goods industry has always been one of the pillars of our economy, contributing substantially to our external balance. A discourse that is valid not only for woodworking machines, but for those for glass, plastic, footwear, marble…
For this reason, with Federmacchine (the federation that brings together the associations of manufacturers of capital goods, ed.) we asked for a series of “zero-cost” interventions, which do not require any economic coverage, but the approval of specific regulatory instruments.
Entrepreneurs must be stimulated to invest in tools that allow for innovation, to stimulate demand, to produce in a more effective, economic and sustainable way in terms of the environment and consumption of resources".
“We are confident that 2013 will be a year of adjustment”, concluded the director of Acimall. “The appointment with Ligna in Hanover, the largest trade fair in the sector, will allow us to have clearer ideas on the trends of the main outlet markets of Italian industry, even if we believe that to speak of a "recovery" we must wait for 2014”.
