Present at Plast, under the best auspices

Plastics and rubber: the new records of Italian machine builders.

The Study Center of Amaplast (the national trade association, a member of Confindustria, which represents some 170 plastics and rubber production machinery, equipment and molds manufacturers) has drawn up the 2017 industry report, also on the basis of ISTAT foreign trade data. And the macroeconomic indicators show double digit increases compared to 2016, bearing witness to the historic record of the sector.
The production (estimated by the association, in the absence of objective studies) was supported both by the excellent performance of exports, which account for 70% of output, and by the domestic market, which shows strong signs of recovery, also confirmed by the more than positive trend of imports.
As Amaplast President Alessandro Grassi pointed out «The time horizon of the Italian manufacturer’s order books has considerably lengthened: many companies have planned production at least until the end of the year and many have difficulty meeting customer demands».
 
Export and import At the macro-area level, the geography of exports sees a progression in the EU: Germany and France show an improvement of over 20 points compared to 2016, and the + 69% posted by sales to Romania has again made Russia “slip” out of the “top ten”, even if only by one placing, even if the country is putting in a recovery (+ 67% with the Italian supply of machinery worth almost 100 million euros in value).
The sales trend to Asia is not particularly brilliant, due to a slowdown in the Middle East and a moderate growth towards the Far East, and with a slowdown in China (-2.5%) and India (-6%).
Overseas, sales to the United States are at + 20%, while supplies to Mexico are down by about 17%.
In South America the recovery in supplies to Brazil is ongoing, up 40% on 2016, for a total value that has again surpassed 50 million euros.
From the product point of view, we note the particularly positive trend of sales abroad of all the main types of primary converting machines, as well as of molds, which traditionally account for just under one third of Italian exports in the sector.

 
NOTE The entire range of lines, machines and auxiliaries for converting plastics and rubber - together with raw materials, semi-finished products, finished products, etc - will be on show at the PLAST 2018 trade fair (Milan, 29 May-1 June).
The numbers related to the participation from abroad (about 20% compared to the previous edition of the exhibition) confirm, on the one hand, the renewed focus on the Italian plastic and rubber industry, on the other hand the operators’ interest in the triennial Milan show, which thus reaffirms its internationality.