According to data from the industry association Amaplast, the trade recession and sluggish demand caused by the COVID-19 pandemic have dealt a blow to the rubber and plastic machinery industry in Italy, and a full recovery is possible in 2022.
The Milan-based association stated that uncertain prospects and continued travel restrictions have severely hindered the operation of the new order and the ability to provide services.
Italy’s rubber and plastic machinery industry exports about 70% of its products, and some types of equipment export 90% of its products. In addition, as the number of orders decreased, another problem emerged: installation and maintenance slowed down or delayed, and delayed payments brought additional difficulties.
Amaplast cited recent import and export data released by the Italian National Bureau of Statistics as saying that machinery exports to the United States fell by 27% in the first three months of this year, almost the same as the 28% year-on-year decline in Asia.
The association said in a statement that with the global economic downturn, investment in the plastics and rubber industries has stagnated.
The situation is particularly severe for automotive and building materials applications where demand has dropped to a very low level. The association added that, on the other hand, the health care and cleaning and personal hygiene product containers and packaging sectors are generally performing well.
In 2019, production and exports shrank by 6%, the first decline after eight consecutive years of growth. Amaplast said that for the Italian plastics and rubber processing machinery industry, 2020 will obviously not be a year of rebound. The industry is considered to be one of the main pillars of the Italian mechanical engineering sector.
Although the forecast is ultimately a forecast, it is unlikely to return to the pre-crisis level in 2021. According to Amaplast, it may not fully recover until 2022 at the earliest.
The decline in orders recorded in the past few weeks directly affected manufacturers of auxiliary machinery. For suppliers with longer delivery time, more complex, and higher cost factories, even in 2021, the strong impact will be felt.
The structurally weak Italian domestic market is also struggling. It seems that it has not benefited from the emergency measures taken by the government in response to the crisis.
Disaggregated data on exports in the first quarter showed that exports to the United States fell by 24%, exports to Mexico fell 16%, and exports to Brazil fell 37%.
In Asia, exports to China fell by 27% in the first quarter compared to the same period last year, while sales to India and Indonesia fell by 6% and 75%, respectively.
The drop to Europe is within 4%, and the following trends are shown in the main export markets.
Exports to Germany fell by 3% in the first quarter, while exports to Spain and France fell by 40% and 21%, respectively.
The number of exports to Poland and the United Kingdom rose, increasing by 40% and 8% respectively.
The fastest growth for Russia, reaching 218%.
Although Morocco and South Africa, the two main export markets, declined by 20% and 28%, respectively, sales in Africa remained largely unchanged.
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