The Feimafe trade fair is taking place in San Paolo, Brazil from May 23rd to 28th. The event showcases top quality machine tools for metal-working, as well as automation and robotic systems, produced by manufacturers from all over the globe. It therefore affords an excellent opportunity for Italian companies, operating in a sector in which they are highly competitive, to display the very best of their production, and also provides a chance for others to acquaint themselves with these excellent Italian products.

Italy has long occupied a top position amongst those countries supplying Brazil with this type of machinery and indeed, in 2010, it became the leader in this field, achieving a market quota of 16.7%. Italian manufacturers are particularly dominant in the specialist area of sheet metal bending. The Italian Trade Commission, in collaboration with the trade association, UCIMU, is organizing a group of 48 selected companies to take part in the event, and the collective has been allocated an exhibition space of 450 square metres.

So what will be on show on the Italian stands at the Feimafe exhibition? Robots designed for bending processes, satining machines and specialist and conventional sheet metal processing machines, an area of production in which Italian companies excel. There will also be automated coil processing systems, plasma cutting machines and machines for manufacturing air-ducts and thermo-acoustic cladding. In addition, visitors will be able to view some precision straightening machines, machines for hot and cold stamping and mechanical and hydraulic presses. This selection of new generation, innovative products is sure to attract the attention of the local operators in the sector.

Brazil’s recent economic growth, resulting from a mixture of restrictive monetary policy and fiscal expansion, has led to a considerable increase in domestic demand, reflected in a growth in GDP of about 7.6% for 2010. On the other hand, it is estimated that GDP growth in 2011 will reach approximately 4.5%.

The generally positive trend over recent years in the Brazilian demand for machine tools was rudely interrupted in 2009, with a contraction in the market of 25.4%. Nevertheless, Brazil is ranked in seventh place in the world listings of the main markets for machine tools, with a quota of 3.3%. Europe is the country’s principal supplier of machine tools, accounting for 45.7% of total imports, followed by (42.7%), and America (9.6%). Amongst the individual countries supplying Brazil, the outright leader is Japan, followed by Germany (16.6%), and with Italy a close third (13.1%). In addition, according to the latest data available, Brazil rates as the sixth most important export market for the Italian automotive sector.