The value of a segment

The 2019 of Italian packaging machines was positive, with over 8 billion euros in turnover (+ 1.8% on 2018). Together with the global results of the sector, the Ucima Studies Office provides growth forecasts for the cosmetic machinery market at the macro area level in the three-year period 2019-2021.

According to the final results of the Ucima (Union of Italian Automatic Wrapping and Packaging Machinery Manufacturers) Study Center provided last December, the sector is in good health (+ 1.8% on 2018), registering positive performances both in Italy both on foreign markets.
In particular, the internal market is still growing by 3.2%, for a total of 1,713 billion euros, on the virtuous wave of the gratifying results obtained last year also thanks to the government incentives associated with Industry 4.0.

Exports - which represent 78.6% of total turnover - also rose by 1.4%, reaching an absolute value of 6.293 billion euros.

The available disaggregated data show the best performance of the made in Italy technologies in three macro areas: Asia (+ 12.7%), EU (+ 6.5%) and Africa/Oceania (+ 3%).

In commenting on the data, the president of UCIMA, Enrico Aureli, declared satisfaction and pride for yet another milestone achieved "a sign of the solidity and dynamism of the sector, capable of imposing itself on a global level and of riding the development of international markets and all customer industries. But - he warns - we must not rest on our laurels, because the challenges that await us are complicated, the competitors increasingly fierce and the scenarios particularly unstable».

The outlook for 2020 therefore remains cautious. Among the elements of concern, the continuing geopolitical turmoil in different markets, tariffs and commercial tensions at an international level, the policies of the Italian government not focused on the need for business growth.

«According to the macro-economic outlook, world GDP will slow down further - concludes Aureli - and at the sector level, order gathering is currently less positive than in the past. We therefore believe that 2020 could be a year of consolidation, after the constant and impetuous growth of the last few years. But we remain optimistic about the further development of our sector in the medium-long term».

Cosmetic packaging machines: Growth forecasts for macro areas
In the three-year period 2019-2021, the Ucima Studies Office expects the global market for cosmetic packaging machines to grow by 2.7% per year on average (CAGR).

In relation to the value, it estimates that the market will go from the current € 2.17 billion to € 2.36 billion, led by Asia (from € 712 to € 802 million), North America (from € 579 to € 604 million) and the EU (from 574 to 606 million €).

The areas with the greatest development potential are Africa (+ 5% annual average) and Asia (+ 4%).
 
Less brilliant performances, however, for the "domestic" market (+ 1.8% EU) and for North America (+ 1.4%).

The countries in which the largest increases are assumed are: Korea (8.4%), Saudi Arabia (7.7%), Thailand (7.2%), Algeria (6.5%), United Arab Emirates (5.8%), Australia (5.4%), Mexico (4.9%), Poland (4.8%), Switzerland (4.7%), Egypt (4.5%), China (4.4%).

On the technological front, there are particularly good prospects for fillers (€ 389 million, + 5.1%), for corking (+ 6.6%) and for cartoning machines (+ 5%).

At the world level, in addition to the types mentioned above, the machines that will present the largest volumes are the fill seal machines (€ 375 million) and the labeling machines (€ 305 million) which, according to Ucima analyses, in the three-year period 2019-2021 will respectively grow by 4.6% and 1.9%.