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Home > ÖSTERREICH > Akzente
MACHINERY FOR PLASTICS: ITALY UNDISPUTED LEADER
Rome (Ign) - Experience, research and flexibility of supply. These are the factors behind the appreciation of the wide range of machinery, systems and equipment for the processing of plastic and rubber offered by Italian companies on international markets. This appreciation coincides with the position at the forefront of international scene, with Italian industry one of the world leaders. According to data published by Assocomaplast (www.assocomaplast.org), the trade association which brings together 170 companies, the overall turnover in the sector in 2006 reached levels of €3.7 billion, basically stable compared to the previous year, accounting for a share of almost 18% of the total Italian machinery industry and earning it second place in the production of instrumental goods. Companies realised almost 60% of their turnover abroad - up 1% on 2005 - with a trade surplus of €1.5 billion. The main customers of Italian industries producing machinery for the production and processing of plastic and rubber are European (40% of sales abroad), in particular Germany, which was confirmed as the best purchaser with 10.6% of the total. Exports towards the rest of Europe, despite presenting lower turnover, are up by almost 50%. China and the United States are the biggest importers of Italian products after the Germans.
The excellent economic situation has generated a widespread recovery of optimism among companies in the sector, in the light of consolidated demand both at home and abroad in the closing months of last year and the early months of 2007.
Technological development has been the key to the success of Italian companies, which in fact boast no fewer than 512 European patents. But an important role was also played by the birth and development, from the 1950s onwards, of an important production district, situated between the provinces of Padova and Venice, within a large area in which the majority of companies in the plastics sector is concentrated. Over half of Italian production in the sector comes from this district in the region of Veneto, which brings together over 2300 companies accounting annually for around €2 billion of business. Italian production is extremely strong in the sector of moulds, with exports worth €542 million, in injection and blowing machines. But the range of products is much wider, from robots for unloading injection-moulded items from presses and for placing sensors in blisters in injection moulding processes, extrusion lines for blown film (particularly used in packing) to soldering systems, and lines for the production of tubes and piping. These are the result of an intense activity of research and development necessary to respond to the high safety standards imposed by international technical regulations.
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