It includes three adjoining areas, 16 municipalities and 91 local production units, with almost 1,750 specialised employees. These are just some of the figures that mark the credentials of the local paper, paper products, graphic art and publishing production system in the province of Frosinone, an example of an Italian local production reality distinguished by its remarkable dynamism. The system is divided into four specialised areas: paper and cardboard production, manufacture of paper and cardboard products for domestic and hygienic use, manufacture of paper products, and manufacture of “other paper and cardboard items”.

The relationship between this province in Lazio and paper has deep roots, which go back as far as 1800. It is an established tradition, which is combined with careful attention to present-day market dynamics and the opportunities that they provide. In 2007, Confindustria Frosinone set up the Filcart Consortium, composed of 16 companies in the paper supply chain from this production area, in order to optimise the opportunities for the sector. The scope of the consortium is to promote integration and cooperation between firms, public and private bodies, associations, foundations, special companies and cooperatives. “The post crisis period,” explains Massimo Giorgilli, president of Filcart, “is turning out to be a complex period also for companies in the paper production system. There have been decreases in production but the companies, despite the slowdown, have continued to invest, particularly in technology and in the energy sector.” The consortium has also presented “various projects for the rationalisation of energy consumption, the recycling of waste paper and internationalisation. So the creation of a territorial network for relations and cooperation between companies and organisations has certainly turned out to be an advantage.”

Their constant attention towards research and innovation has enabled the paper companies from the Frosinone area to continue to have a perfectly respectable performance on the export front. “Foreign markets,” Giorgilli emphasises, “have always been a reference point for the sector: Spain, France, the United Kingdom, Germany, Turkey and in general the countries of the Mediterranean basin have always been the best trade partners. Export figures, accounting for an average of 30% of the turnover, bear witness to a solidity that is partly due to the capacity to gain attention on foreign markets which, given the international economic crisis, should be consolidated. Indeed, precisely in this period of crisis, the companies from the district are trying to increase their export share by diversifying their export destinations. The new markets that are being approached are the Eastern European countries (also including Russia and Turkey) and also India, Saudi Arabia, Vietnam and Iran.”