On 25 November 25, ANIMA, the Italian Federation of National Associations of Mechanical and Engineering Industries, held"Quale export per il 2017"(Which Export for 2017) at the headquarters of Il Sole 24 Ore, theItaliannational daily businessnewspaper.
Following two round table disussions, the morning's work ended with awards for the ANIMA companies, some words from Alberto Caprari, CEO of the Caprari Group and President of ANIMA, and the conclusions of the undersecretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Benedetto della Vedova.
Export growth
Between 2008 and 2009 exports suffered a major setback. In 2013, mechanical engineering exports started to exceed pre-crisis levels. Now they are growing beyond those levels. Europe is still the most important market for the sector with 44%, followed by Asia (22%) and North America (10%). Germany, United States and France occupy the first three positions for the exports of Italian mechanical engineering.
"The fear was that we would have to deal with much more dangerous economic and political consequences than expected", declared Alberto Caprari. "However, the last few months have not created a critical situation for exports. The events in Turkey did not affect trade and the US election did not upset the stock market. Even Brexit has not excessively impacted business activities. The price of oil seems to have settled at $50 a barrel, and is becoming profitable. If there is going to be a significant echo in the changing geopolitical situation we will probably notice it in 2017.”
Increased demand
“Our French neighbour has increased its demand for ‘Made in Italy’ products by +10%, reaching €1.18 billion with a positive peak demand for boilers (+21.9%) and fork lift trucks (+11.1%), in addition to handling equipment. Overall Great Britain and Spain have confirmed and increased their imports of products manufactured in Italy. In sixth place we find Turkey with a +24% of Italian exports for a value of €418 million, after a sharp decline since 2012. Saudi Arabia, which had continuously increased since 2010, reversed the trend in 2015 with a -21% drop. The oil war has greatly affected the purchasing power of the country, slowing all sectors and related projects. With collapses like Russia followed by rebounds and recoveries, exports are still driving and favourably supporting the Italian mechanical engineering industry", Alberto Caprari concluded.
