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THE ITALIAN GLASS INDUSTRY TRAVELS TO 'MIR STEKLA 2007' WITH THE RUSSIAN MARKET IN ITS SIGHTS
The date has been set on the 13-16th of June for the 9th edition of 'Mit Stekla'
(www.mirstekla-expo.ru/en), one of the biggest international fairs in the glass industry. As usual, Italian firms will be there in force: the Italian Institute for Foreign Trade (Ice), in collaboration with Gimav, the Italian Glass-Processing Machinery and Accessory Suppliers' Association, is leading an official delegation of 20 firms, which will have at their disposal an exhibition space of 700 square meters. Both the flat and curved glass processing machinery industries will participate, along with another 190 foreign exhibitors and some 120 Russian firms.
In the last seven years the profile of this event has been growing steadily: its first edition, back in 1999, could boast a total exhibition space of 1.319 square meters and 178 exhibitors. In 2006 the exhibition area had grown to 6.200 square meters while the number of participating firms reached 336, of which 189 were foreign exhibitors from 24 different countries, with a clear majority coming from Italy and Germany. Taking into account producers, retailers and final product consumers, visitors exceeded the 10,000 mark.
The fair is organised by leading European glass industry trade organisations in close cooperation. As well as Italy's Gimav, the main players are the Russian Architect's Union, the Russian Federation of Glass Industries, Aprok (Russian Energy Efficient Window Manufacturers Association), and Vdma (German Association of engineering firms).
The potential of the Russian market, which has been growing steadily since 2001, makes 'Mir Stekla' a strategic event of Italian firms, particularly those involved in the mechanical tooling sector. This potential is assured by the growth outlook of Russia as well as by the bilateral agreements signed between Italy and Russia. The Russian glass industry consists of about 2,000 firms, of which 673 are medium to large enterprises that supply the automotive, food, furniture and construction industries.
In Italy production is more concentrated (there are about 230 firms), but the tendency to look beyond national borders is very strong: there are 110 exporting firms and exports make up 72% of revenue in the industry, which, according to the latest statistics published by Gimav, was equal to 1,176 billion euros in 2005. The sector employs 4,500 people. The European Union is the main export market, raking in a 29,9% share which, according to Gimav estimates, in 2005 was worth 254 million euros. Iran is the second export destination, with an 11,9% share worth 101 million euros. Russia is third, with exports worth 100 million euros and an 11,8% share. The United States are fourth (6,8% share, worth 57 million euros) and China is fifth (6,2%, 53 million). On the whole, exports rose by 2,7%, reaching a combined value of 851 million euros. However, the growth dynamics for the two sectors of the industry show different patterns: processing machinery, accessory and special products for flat glass rose by 3,45%, while those for curved glass rose by 0,81%.
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