Lombardy's exports are growing again: this was revealed by the study conducted by Banca Intesa Sanpaolo, which published a Monitor according to which, after the difficulties of the two central quarters, 2012 closed more than positively for the typical industrial districts of Lombardy. The agro-food chain in particular closes a decidedly positive year for exports in all the regional districts monitored: +20% for meats and cured meats from Cremona and Mantua, +7,5% for dairy products, +7,2% wines from Franciacorta, +2,4% for rice from Pavia. The results of exports are among the few positive data in a regional agro-food context that is in a state of crisis, penalized by the internal market. Within the fashion/textile supply chain, the 2012 performances of the footwear of Vigevano and the silk-textile of Como stand out: +10,6% and +2% respectively.
Both districts have for some time been pointing towards the high end of the market and the extension of the export range, to reach the more dynamic emerging markets. The 2012 exports of the hosiery district of Castel Goffredo, always active on the innovation and design front, showed a slowdown, but without signs of a structural crisis. The export results of the metalworking chain are quite heterogeneous: the districts that embrace the metallurgical specialization found themselves having to deal with particularly brilliant levels in 2011, which were at the origin of a limited growth in exports in 2012 (primarily that of metals of Brescia, still at the top of the ranking however for export value).
On the other hand, the performances of the leather tanning machinery districts of Vigevano (+13,9%) and the instrumental mechanics of Varese (+10,3%) were more brilliant. The Lumezzane district: taps and cookware closed the year with exports down by 1,7%, following the trend of foreign sales of the entire metal household goods sector. In the wood supply chain, the 5,7% growth in 2012 exports of wood and furniture from Brianza stands out, however still far from pre-recessionary levels. Lastly, the Bergamo Rubber Valley district is dealing with a slowdown in exports in 2012 which does not undermine the undisputed European leadership in the rubber-plastic sector. This is a district that is already exporting well above 2008 levels.
Both in the fourth quarter of 2012 and throughout the year, the new markets provided the greatest growth opportunities for exports from the traditional districts of the region. In fact, the driving force of some important European reference markets, such as Germany, was lacking: the contraction of foreign sales in 4,6 was of the order of 2012%, for a weight in any case close to 20% on the total export of the aggregate. Exports to France and Spain also slowed down in 2012. On the other hand, this was offset by the positive contributions of the United States (+21,5%), the United Kingdom and Switzerland. Among the new markets, first of all the contributions of Algeria, Saudi Arabia and India should be mentioned.
Growth of 2,1% for the foreign sales of the Lombard technological poles in the fourth quarter of 2012, again at current values. However, the result can be attributed entirely to the performance of the Varese aeronautical hub, against a slowdown in exports from the ICT and pharmaceutical hubs. However, the ICT hub is the only one to close the entire year 2012 with exports down (-13,1%), following the scenario common to the entire national sector of the digital economy. Growth, on the other hand, on an annual basis for the pharmaceutical and aeronautical hubs, recently annexed to the new National Aerospace Technological Cluster. Worth noting, also in the case of the technological hubs, is the growth of direct exports to the United States, against a slowdown in direct exports to primary European reference markets (primarily Switzerland, Germany, France, the United Kingdom).
The data on the Redundancy Fund of the traditional districts, relating to the year 2012, highlight a 4,1% increase in the total authorized hours, for a total of approximately 83 million. The result is mainly attributable to the increases in hours of the Ordinary Fund (+68,4%), which reach a weight close to 50%. Hours of Extraordinary Cash were down (-29,6%), which however still account for approximately 35% of the total number of hours, and hours of Cash in Derogation (-8,4), which retain a considerable weight only in a couple of monitored districts. In the technological centres, on the other hand, an overall contraction of 28,1% of CIG hours was observed in 2012 (for 6,2 million hours), mainly the result of decreases in correspondence with the prevailing type of cash, the extraordinary one; which still maintains a weight close to 65-70% in all three poles monitored.
