In the first quarter of 2014, exports from Italian industrial districts maintained a good growth rate, registering a trend increase of 5,4%. It has been more than four years (17 consecutive quarters) that the district areas have been growing continuously. At the beginning, immediately after the great crisis of 2009, it was a rebound; in recent quarters, however, new historic highs have been reached and we can finally speak of a recovery, at least on foreign markets.
The districts have given an important boost to the growth of the Italian productive fabric: in the first three months of 2014, in fact, about two thirds of the increase in Italian exports of manufactured goods (overall equal in absolute value to 1,7 billion euros in comparison with the same period of 2013) was explained by the district areas which exported 1,1 billion euros more than last year. This is an extraordinary result if we consider that the districts directly represent just under a quarter of the total Italian export of manufactured goods.
Once again the Italian districts did better than the non-district areas, with the same production specialization (+5,4% vs. +2,5%) and the entire Italian manufacturing fabric (+1,9%). The greater dynamism compared to the main European competitors is also confirmed: German manufactured exports, in fact, grew by 1,5%, while France did not go beyond a progress of 0,6%. Therefore, new confirmations emerge on the centrality of districts in the Italian manufacturing panorama. The district effect still exists and offers an extra boost to companies in the competitive comparison on foreign markets.
In Italy there are many highly specialized areas characterized by widespread and tacitly shared high production skills that offer important competitive advantages. In many of these territories, the production chains have not been broken and/or compromised by the crisis that began in 2009, but, on the contrary, have been able to renew themselves, leveraging on the high stability of the partnership relationships between the lead company and sub-suppliers/contractors. The recovery on foreign markets is widespread at the sectoral level and is also starting to affect the sectors most closely linked to the real estate and construction world.
In fact, construction products and materials recorded a trend increase in exports of 7,8%, in line with what was observed in the mechanical districts (+7,9%). The districts specializing in household appliances closed the quarter with an increase of 5,9%, while those that produce furniture reported a growth in exported values equal to 2,6%. The districts of the fashion system also showed themselves to be particularly dynamic, led by intermediate productions (+9,8%) which come from a positive but lackluster 2013.
A good growth rate was also maintained by the districts specialized in consumer goods of the fashion system (+5,2%), while the agro-food districts, while not shining, remained in positive territory (+2,4% ), consolidating the favorable results of previous years. Some of the most important Italian district areas stand out for their intensity of growth, such as Friulian components and thermo-electromechanics, the goldsmith's shop of Valenza and Arezzo, the tannery of Arzignano and the eyewear shop of Belluno, followed by the taps, valves and cookware of Lumezzane and from Sassuolo tiles. The three most important textile-clothing districts (Prato, Como and Biella) and the two main areas of Italian wood-furniture (Brianza and Livenza and Quartier del Piave) are also distributed.
Favorable signals also emerge from the analysis of commercial outlets, with traditional markets once again driving the growth of the districts. Among the top five countries for contribution to the growth of districts, four, in fact, are advanced: they are the United States, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and Germany. In the first quarter of 2014, the increase in district exports in these countries (compared to the same period of 2013) amounted to 346 million euros, 31,5% of the overall increase in district exports.
District exports, despite the strength of the euro and the Ukrainian crisis (with the consequent drop in direct flows to Ukraine and Russia), maintained a dynamic growth profile on the new markets (+7,4% the tendential change in first three months of the year). The United Arab Emirates, the Chinese market (Hong Kong and China) and South Korea were the driving forces. In the coming months, exports will be confirmed as the engine of the recovery of industrial districts and, more generally, of the entire Italian productive fabric. A less penalizing exchange rate and world demand more oriented towards quality products and showing a moderate recovery also in the euro area will allow a strong nucleus of Italian district firms to best express their potential.
Attachments: District Monitors_June 2014.pdf
