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Home > CANADA > Business events in Italy
ITALIAN MACHINE TOOLS CONQUER CHINA
Rome (Ign) -It is the largest Asian show dedicated to the vast sector of machine tools and automation. This, then, is an event, which is vital for developing its presence on a market in continuous growth, that of China, which is now destined to rapidly become the most important in the world. This is why the Cimt 2007, the China International Machine Tool Show, (http://www.cimtshow.com), every year sees an increase in international visitors, Europeans and Italians in particular. In the last edition, this major Chinese event attracted 1102 exhibitors and over 140,000 professional visitors. And for this edition, the 10th, the organisers are confident they can further increase the number of presences, also thanks to the continuous development of Chinese manufacturing production and to the need to increasingly move towards western quality standards. This is an opportunity, which cannot be missed, especially for Italy (which together with Germany, Korea and Japan is one of the world leaders in the sector), which will be present with a large collective delegation involving over 60 companies, organised by the Italian Institute of Foreign Trade (ICE).
The Italian machine tool industry is in fact at the forefront from various points of view. This is an extremely vast and articulated production system, composed of over 400 companies, mainly medium-sized, with an average turnover almost €13 million and a strong propensity to export. The geographical distribution of companies in the sector sees strong concentration in Lombardy (48.2%), in Veneto and Friuli (16.5%), and in Emilia Romagna (15.9%). And after a quiet period, between 2002 and 2004, when the international crisis and the dollar exchange rate had a negative influence, companies in the sector are once more taking off: in 2006 turnover was well above €4.6 billion, with growth of 11%, according to data published by the trade association Ucimu (The Union of Italian Machine Tool Manufacturers, www.ucimu.it), while orders of Italian machine tools saw increases of 15.7%, a result due to the positive trend in orders received both on the domestic (+13.8%), and foreign markets (+15.9%).
The trade surplus leapt up by 21%, and, above all, companies have full order books for 2007, a year which is set to be extremely successful and promising: on the basis of initial estimates, production should grow by a further 5.7%, with exports up 5.5% and the domestic market witnessing growth of 5.9%. Also significant is the increase in sales to China (+48% in the first five months of last year), which has thus become the leading export market for Italian products in the sector.
In this scenario, a particularly important role has also been taken on by the development of protocols in collaboration with emerging countries. A case in point is the Italian-Mexican industrial technological centre, that will be set up in Ciudad Sahagun, in the industrial area of the State of Hidalgo, 100km north of Mexico City. This is the result of collaboration between the Italian Institute for Foreign Trade and the Mexican engineering industry's Centre for production organisation and technological development. The centre will use exclusively the most up-to-date Italian machinery and technology, provided in collaboration with Ucimu, for a total value of $ 600,000. Its creation will provide a production outlet for Italian companies interested in joint ventures in engineering and component production, and will represent the nucleus of a future high-technology industrial district with an Italian stamp, aimed at developing the supply of components and semifinished goods for the aerospace sector and leading car manufacturers in Latin America.
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