The Italian plastics and rubber machinery industry

Amaplast, facts and figures 2021. Notes from the annual meeting and the statistical survey taking a snapshot of the performance of the plastics and rubber machinery, equipment and mold making industry.

The annual meeting of Amaplast members (the national trade association, a member of Confindustria, which groups about 170 plastics and rubber machinery, equipment and mold manufacturers) was held on July 7, 2022, at Villa Borromeo in Cassano d’Adda.

The meeting provided an opportunity, among other things, to confirm the effectiveness of the synergy with Acimac (Association of Italian Manufacturers of Machinery and Equipment for Ceramics) and Ucima (Union of Italian Manufacturers of Automatic Packaging and Packaging Machinery), which has made it possible to share and make available to member companies a series of increasingly updated and tailored services.

Not to be forgotten, in this regard, was the first edition of GREENPLAST (which was held as part of the Innovation Alliance with IPACK-IMA, Print4All, Intralogistica Italia and Pharmintech) and which hosted the third edition of the international forum PACKAGING SPEAKS GREEN (sponsored by Amaplast and Ucima), dedicated to the development of the culture of sustainability and circular economy in the packaging and plastics sector.

The key themes of the new normal

In illustrating the performance of the Italian plastics and rubber machinery industry in 2021, Amaplast President - Dario Previero - reported a very lively domestic demand - supported by 4.0 incentives - and good export performance, especially to the North American market: the two factors have allowed for a large recovery to pre-Covid levels, and companies declare themselves moderately confident for the current year as well.

However, the extent and consolidation of the rebound are conditioned by the well-known negative factors that characterize the economic reality, beyond the physiological normalization of the supply-demand curve after the peaks that followed the Covid-19 crisis: the increase in the costs of raw materials and energy but, above all, the difficult availability of components, the increase in transport tariffs and international tensions, as well as the uncertainties due to the recurrence of pandemic waves.

Previero then stressed how it is now imperative for companies to be able to adapt quickly to the global context, which is characterized by a succession of disruptive events: emergency now seems to have become the new normal.

Themes, these, partly resumed and deepened during the panel discussion “Energy, Environment, Finance: the new paradigm” that concluded the July 7 meeting.

Industry data

•  The second National Statistical Survey, carried out by the MECS-Amaplast Study Center, returns the monitoring of about 400 Italian companies that manufacture plastic and rubber machinery, equipment and molds, employing more than 13,900 people and generating a turnover of more than 4 billion euros in 2021 (+12% over 2020). 
• The average export share stands at 72%, with peaks of 82% for larger companies. And it is precisely those firms in the over 50 million turnover class (less than 5% of the total) that make the largest contribution to turnover (over 38% of the total). From a territorial point of view, most companies (about 52%) are located in Lombardy, followed by Emilia-Romagna with 15%, Veneto with 13% and Piedmont with 9%. • As for the customer sectors of machinery manufacturers, packaging is confirmed in first place, accounting for 41% of the total (27% food and 14% non-food), followed by automotive with 18% and construction (10%), just to mention the most prominent outlets. Also worth mentioning is the medical segment, which, although with a rather small share of the total (5%), led to a 38% increase in turnover for supplier companies.
• Among the macro-categories of machinery, it is extrusion that has realized the preponderant share of total production, with 19% of the total; this is followed by auxiliaries with 14%, injection molding machines with 11%, and plastic molds/dies with just under 8%.
• Adding to the picture for 2021 are the indicators for the first quarter of 2022, which describe a still positive trend: in fact, compared to the same period in 2021, orders are up 10%, turnover is up 16%, exports are up 13%, and imports are up 9%. Expectations for the second quarter are also marked by optimism, at least in terms of the size of incoming orders, which are estimated to increase further, in the range of 6-7%.

Of course, the various unknowns and critical issues that have been occurring and overlapping for several months have been worrying entrepreneurs in no small measure, who, while remaining hopeful, expect a still positive but less bright 2022 budget than last year’s.