Italian shipbuilders are seeking to consolidate their leadership in the industry and to establish steady trade links with new markets (US and Brazil). The NauticaMed World 2008 fair, taking place in Ravenna on the 28-29^th February will provide an opportunity to pursue these twin objectives. The event is organised by the special agency of the Ravenna Chamber of Commerce, Sidi-Eurosportello and by the Italian Trade Commission (ICE).

The leading position of Italian firms in this industry is confirmed by the figures. In the lucrative ‘mega yacht’ segment – boats longer than 24 meters – Italian shipyards received 427 orders ( 23% year-on-year) out of a total order book for 2008 of 916 boats ( 18%). The figures were revealed at the end of 2007 when the US magazine “Swowboat international” published its “Global order book”. The ‘book’ lists the orders and the length of the hulls being built. Italy dominates this niche with the Azimut-Benetti group (98 orders in its books), followed by the Ferretti group (89 orders). Other Italian firms like the Fipa group (Ab Yacht, Cbi Navi e Maiora), Sanlorenzo, Camuzzi Nautica (Baglietto e Cantieri di Pisa) and Perini Navi occupy a place in the top 20.

NauticaMed World is a show intended for the whole chain of the Italian shipbuilding industry: from subcontractors to shipyards, from producers of components and accessories to system designers, from fitters and/or decorators to providers of chartering and nautical services, from designers of hulls and accessories to those that experiment with innovative materials. The fifth edition of this Italian fair will offer an opportunity to the numerous companies that will be present – representing a mature sector which traditionally has a global reach – to establish new and steady trade links or to explore new uncharted areas.

In this sense, the decision to focus the 2008 edition on the US and Brazil was not casual: the US, according to the latest data, are the biggest producer in the world of pleasure yachts, with an annual turnover of 37 billion dollars, 70 million enthusiasts and 18 million registered pleasure yachts. Furthermore, the Unites States are the largest market for Italian yachting accessories and components. Brazil, on the other hand, is a rapidly expanding market with a taste for Italian design.

Italian yachting firms are innately projected towards international markets. In 2006 – according to the annual report of Ucina, the industry’s trade association, published in October 2007 – more than half of their output was sold abroad (58.9%, worth 1.76 billion euros). EU countries took a 53.4% share (worth 938 million), while the other 46.6% (worth 820 million) was sold to the rest of the world. On the whole, in 2006 turnover grew by 19.6%, although the increase in domestic production ( 4.3%) was markedly inferior to that destined for exports ( 30.6%). The balance between exports and imports thus grew by 31.6% in favour of exports.