Ceramic machinery: Italy grows by +60%

Industry 4.0 is driving a boom in Italian ceramic technology, with rates of growth never seen before. Sales of ceramic machinery to domestic clients has grown by double digits over the last three quarters.

In late September 2016, the Acimac (Association of Italian Manufacturers of Machinery and Equipment for Ceramics) Study Centre reported industry-wide growth of +35.5% over the same quarter of the previous year, followed by growth of 21.8% in the last quarter of 2016.

The first three months of this year have registered record breaking figures, with growth in domestic sales turnover of +60.6%, over the first quarter results for 2016.

These outstanding domestic sales figures have driven the overall figures for the quarter, which closed with an increase of +13.3%. Exports, which account for 80% of total sales, remained stable, after registering a positive trend of +48% in the last quarter of 2016.

“Already last year, hyper-amortisation gave a boost to the Italian market," says Paolo Sassi, President of ACIMAC, "and now we're seeing a real explosion of interest in the most recent, innovative technologies.”

“Many of our members," Sassi goes on, "already have practically full order books for 2017, and they're already scheduling deliveries for the early months of 2018.”

“We hope that the new incentives continue to be offered, because it takes time to understand the mechanisms involved. I have no doubt, for instance, that many companies will be ready to invest after the Summer.”

“The measures enacted by the Government, which were strongly sponsored by Minister for Economic Development Calenda," Sassi explains, "have helped us to draw attention to the many innovative technologies offered by our companies in recent years, as well as to the most recent systems showcased at Tecnargilla last September.”