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Home > UNITED KINGDOM > Focus On
FINISHING SYSTEMS: ITALIAN COMPANIES KICKSTART INTERNATIONAL UPSWING
Over half a billion EUR in profit and a keen exporting vision: this is the calling card of Italian businesses specialising in surface finishing systems, the members of Anima, the Federation of the Italian Associations of Mechanical and Engineering Industries (www.anima.it). In 2006, the sector recorded a turnover of EUR 550 million, an increase of 5.8% compared to 2005. And estimates for 2007 indicate further profit growth: +9,1% to approximately EUR 600 million.
The figures refer to sales, both in Italy and abroad, of engineering systems and machinery for the application of painting products, shot-blasting, sanding and shot-peening units, industrial cleaning and vibratory finishing systems and machinery.
The main clients of the companies which operate in this sector are car manufacturers: the resumption of investments in the automotive sector (both in Italy and abroad) produced unexpected results last year, and foreshadows a continued growth trend for 2007. If 2006 therefore closed with slightly better results than predicted but in line with expectations, the current year promises to be a livelier one. There are only two remaining unknown quantities: increased foreign competition and an increased markup of raw materials and semi-manufactured components.
However, these two critical factors should not hamper the sector's progress: indirect confirmation comes from the rate of plant utilisation which should grow to 95% of capacity in 2007 compared to 90% in the previous year. In the space of two years, the sector recorded an increase of over seven percentage points, given that in 2005 the utilisation rate logged at 88%. Export ratios on profits, on the contrary, remained unchanged at 45% in the past two years and are expected to come in at the same level in 2007 as well: this translates to a value of EUR 270 million out of a projected EUR 600 million in profits: a yearly increase of 8%. Employment in the sector also remains stable, having now reached a level of maturity: by 31 December 2007 employees of companies dealing in surface finishing systems should only increase by about 50 units compared to 12 months ago, for a grand total of 2.950 employees.
In parallel with positive signals arriving from foreign markets, in particular from Europe and even more so from developing countries, Italian companies are beginning to suffer from local competition: the various industries are therefore trying to deal with foreign competition by investing in technology.
Investments in technology should allow to increase or at the very least defend current export quotas: EU-25 is in first place with 45,9% (N.B. l'originale dice così, man non è meglio EU-27 visto che l'Europa si è allargata?), followed by North America (21,3%), European non-EU countries (12,4%) and Asia, currently the fourth destination market with 10,3% but expected to grow in the coming years. African (4,8%) and Central and South American (3,8%) markets as well as Oceania (1,5%) remain less significant.
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