Samoter-Asphaltica 2014 sparks greater Italian optimism

The recent co-located Samoter and Asphaltica exhibitions at VeronaFiere in Verona, Italy, have been hailed a success by organisers, exhibiting companies and trade delegations, after more than 40,000 visitors, including thousands from outside Italy, attended the combined 445 exhibitor company-strong four-day events. There is no doubt, as Guy Woodford reports, they provided a timely boost to an Italian construction equipment manufacturing sector enduring tough times

By the end of the  29th edition of 323 Samoter and  7th edition 160 Asphaltica, the fears over whether the co-located show would even take place due to a depressed domestic sales market, had been replaced by optimism, not only for both events’ future, but for the Italian construction equipment manufacturing industry as a whole.

Some of this optimism was captured in the new or show-debuting equipment at the Veronafiere showground.

252 Iterchimica unveiled and demonstrated its Iterlene ACF 1000 HP GREEN liquid additive with binding function for the production of cold mix asphalt with 100% Reclaimed Asphalt Pavement (RAP).

The new road maintenance and repair-enhancing liquid additive is composed of different chemical components, each with a well-defined function towards the bitumen: anti-oxidative, plastifier, rejuvenator, moisturiser, diluent or dispersant. Iterlene ACF 1000 HP GREEN is added cold in the plant mixer after the RAP, through dosing pump or manually through a proper opening on the mixer's structure.
A company spokesperson said, “When working with traditional asphalt winter road damage repair solutions, like Itercold, we have always looked to make liquid additives to aid small and medium-sized pothole or road failure repairs.

However, as a result of a long trial, Iterlene ACF 1000 HP GREEN can assist with road maintenance of much larger proportions of, for example, 10-50m², by enabling the production of cold mixes with high mechanical performance.”

Materials testing firm 1417 Tecnotest has seen good exports of its testing machines due, says Patricia Sarson, the firm’s overseas sales manager, due to strong sales to customers in Asia and Australasia. Sarson said the Modena, Italy-based firm is keen to push into new export markets, with Tecnotest recently achieving its first machine sales to Myanmar, with another notable sale being a large rock testing laboratory sold to a Chilean customer. Chile, said Sarson, is already a “fairly consolidated” export market for the Tecnotest.

Among the Tecnotest machines on show at Samoter-Asphaltica 2014 was the first-time exhibited at any show T100-E02 100kN variable speed machine. The firm’s B100-B92 gyratory compactor, also on show at the co-located events, is said to be selling well in Italy.

On fellow machine testing system manufacturer 282 Matest’s stand, the main focus was on the company’s new Pavetest division, committed to developing dynamic testing systems alongside Matest's innovative range of new SUPERPAVE products. Matest testing equipment on show included the B038A Smartracker, a Hamburg Method wheel tracker able to perform EN and AASHTO dry or wet rutting and moisture sensitivity tests on Hot Mix Asphalt with both wheels or run one wheel under dry and one wheel under wet conditions simultaneously during one test. This was said by Paola Maestroni, Matest’s marketing manager, to be attracting a lot of interest from the US.

2139 Controls unveiled at Samoter-Asphaltica 2014 its new automatic asphalt analyser, PAVELAB 50, said by the firm to represent a new generation of automatic closed-loop system for separation and extraction of bitumen, aggregates and filler from asphalt samples by use of solvents.
The company was also keen to emphasise its March 2014 acquisition of Australian firm IPC Global. Medeo Olivares, Controls marketing and communications manager, said the move had given Controls “references to research work that it didn’t have before”. Controls opened a US branch of the company in January 2014 which, Olivares said, is a “very important” move in the development of Controls' global profile. Iraq is also proving a very good export market for Controls. Olivares said the firm is looking to achieve 92% of its turnover through exports by the end of 2014, a slightly higher rate than at present.

At the 2278 Kohler-2277 Lombardini stand, the big news was that a Kohler-branded KDI 3.4 litre diesel engine model is due to go into production by the end of this year. The Tier 4/Stage IIIB emissions compliant KDI 1.9 and KDI 2.5litre engine models were exhibited at Samoter-Asphaltica 2014, and are said to be Ideal for machines such as mid-size excavators. Of the forthcoming KDI 3.4litre 100kW capacity engine, Nino De Giglio, Lombardini’s media marketing manager, said, “There’s been a lot of interest from customers, especially those working with machines fitted with the KDI 1.9 and 2.5litre engines.” De Giglio added that the two current and one imminent KDI engine model offered high performance specifications through their power and torque density.
1175 Zoomlion-owned and leading concrete plants and pump manufacturer 2203 CIFA exhibited its innovative Energya 9 plug-in hybrid mixer and its MK28L-5 concrete mixer pump during Samoter-Asphaltica 2014. The company also held technical training sessions for operators of its pumping units and was promoting its ‘Club Academy’, an initiative of the CIFA Academy, which sees operators and customers who sign up for and complete a certain number of technical and safety equipment training courses offered discounts on further training courses.

Meanwhile, 1141 SIMEX showcased its new VSE 40 screening bucket, said to allow a variable and continuous output size of between 15mm-45mm of the selected material thanks to a special mechanism. SIMEX say the model has been under continuous development since its unveiling at Bauma 2013, with a handful of customers who have been testing it said by company spokesman, Lucio Garofalo, to have seen “tremendous” onsite results. A number of other VSE 40 screening buckets are said to be in the process of being assembled for other customers, while SIMEX also confirmed they are planning to introduce a smaller version of the VSE 40 at a later date.

7752 Baioni, the crushing and screening plant manufacturer, says it is doing good business in Africa, notably Ghana, Nigeria and Kenya, and is pushing hard to increase sales in the continent and also across the Middle East. The company was also said by Milena Bianchi, its marketing and communications manager, to have good presence and client relations in Indonesia and Singapore.
714 IronPlanet, the leading online used construction equipment auctioneers is looking to double its €40 million turnover in the next two years. Claudio Marchesi, IronPlanet’s Italian manager, said that despite Italy seeing an 80% slump in domestic construction equipment sales in the past six years, the demand for used equipment is still “very high”.

Speaking after Samoter-Asphaltica 2014, Giovanni Mantovani, CEO and director general of Veronafiere, explained that in the 50 years since the first edition of Samoter this, “…was the hinge-pin between past and future: relaunching, together with all trade associations, the event as a landmark within the construction industry. Co-scheduling with Asphaltica and partnership with 6921 SITEB proved to be a highly successful choice and was much appreciated by visitors and exhibitors.”

Enrico Santini, president of Unacea, added to the positivity surrounding the 30th edition of Samoter. “The decline on the market in recent years has diminished the number of companies but not the quality of the offering and contacts; indeed, we noticed attendance by operators who had not been in Italy or on this market for many years. For us, it was a good show.”