Presses and moulds remain the most widely sold machines

The percentage breakdown of the Italian machinery manufacturers' turnover according to individual types of machine remained unchanged in 2007. The Statistical Survey conducted by Acimac showed that the core machinery of the production line, namely presses and moulds, accounted for 27.3% of total turnover, followed by glazing and decoration systems (15.9%), kilns (14.5%) and earth preparation machinery (12%).
The greatest increases were those of machinery for storage and handling (+23.6%), drying (+23.5%), firing (+20%) and finishing (+19.8%).

The industry maintained its now well-established breakdown of machinery sales to the six different client ceramic sectors. The tile sector accounted for 78.1% of the total with a turnover of 1,513 million euro, a year on year increase of 11%. This was followed at a considerable distance by brick and roof tile producers (12.3% of total turnover), which reported a 33.3% increase in sales of Italian machinery both in the export market (+30.5%) and in the domestic market (+38.5%).

Sales of sanitaryware machinery (5.7% of total turnover) increased to 110.1 million euro, while sales of tableware machinery (1.9%) fell by 20.7% over 2006 to 36.3 million euro. After the sharp fall in 2006, the refractory machinery market (1.9% of total turnover) reversed the trend with a 36% increase to 37.4 million euro. Sales of various ceramic machinery also performed strongly (2.1 million euro, 0.1% of total turnover).