Italian ceramic technology maintains its leadership

Following strong growth in turnover in 2011 (+26.2%) to return to pre-crisis levels, 2012 saw a slight decline. Overall the Italian ceramic machinery sector generated sales of 1,667 million euro (4.4% down on 2011). The domestic market showed a positive trend, with Italian sales up 7.3% to a total of 379 million euro (compared to 353 million euro in 2011). This marked the second consecutive increase, although absolute values are still far short of the pre-crisis levels of 2008 (-22.6%).

Exports, which accounted for 77.3% of total turnover, fell by 7.4% to a total of 1,288 million euro (1,391 million euro in 2011). In spite of the downturn, Italy retains its technological leadership along with a uniform presence in all world markets.

The number of companies in business as of 31/12/2012 remained unchanged at 150, while the workforce dropped from 6,343 to 6,078 (-4.2%), with the fall in numbers distributed fairly uniformly across all professional categories.

"We have closed 2012 with positive overall results and remain cautiously optimistic for the current year," commented Acimac's Chairman Fabio Tarozzi. "Although the first few months of 2013 saw overall sluggishness in the major world markets, the buoyant performance over the following months suggests that we will maintain the same level of turnover this year as in 2012," concluded Tarozzi.