Skip to main content

Italy must “deal” with manufacturing competition

Italian construction equipment manufacturers are being urged to embrace “internationalisation” if they are to survive and prosper after new figures revealed declining domestic but rising export sales in 2011.
February 10, 2012 Read time: 2 mins
Italian construction equipment manufacturers are being urged to embrace “internationalisation” if they are to survive and prosper after new figures revealed declining domestic but rising export sales in 2011.

Full year road machinery sales in Italy were down 43.6%, and earth moving machine sales by 21.2% on 2010 levels. Sales of concrete machinery (truck mixers, concrete pumps, truck-mounted and stationary pumps, plants, shotcrete) fell by 7% in the last three months of 2011 compared to the third quarter of the year.

The figures were processed by the trade association, 2539 Unacea based on data provided by Istat (The Italian Institute for Statistics).

On a more encouraging note, further Unacea processed Istat figures show exports of Italian earth moving machinery increased by 39%, road machinery by 14% and concrete machinery by 9% in the first 10 months of 2011, compared to the same period of the previous year. Exports of Italian-made tower cranes were also up by 30%, while drilling machine sales rose by 21%. Crushing and screening machinery exports fell by 13%.

Commenting on the figures Paolo Salvadori, president of Le Oru – 2318 IMER Group, said: “The reality is that we have to acknowledge a phenomenon which is no longer cyclical, but structural, that is the transfer of wealth and affluence from Europe to other countries. It is a reality that cannot be eliminated, but managed, first of all, through processes of internationalisation, which does not simply mean selling abroad, but transferring your concept of business to other countries.”

Federico Furlani, managing director of Simem Spa, said: “The domestic market situation remains invariably negative, while in exports, although there are a few signs of a recovery, we have to deal with competition from ‘emerged’ countries which, like China, are conquering positions in our sector through acquisitions, such as the recent cases of Schwing and 1259 Putzmeister.

“In Italy, recent seismic events could and should act as an effective reminder to return to discussing the quality of concrete and its production process: pre-mixing, automation and process control. From this perspective, we hope that there will soon be a response from the government, because these provisions could contribute to the growth that the country needs so urgently.”

Enrico Prandini, of 2300 Komatsu Utility Europe and vice president of Unacea, said the need to reduce the Italian public debt had limited investment in national infrastructure.

He added: “It risks negating all the sacrifices the population has made: if there is not a return to making investments, the recession will continue to increase the public debt and interest rates on it, sending the economy into a downward spiral."

%$Linker: External 0 0 0 oLinkExternal www.unacea.org UNACEA http://www.unacea.org/ false false%>

%$Linker: 2 Internal 2 4824 0 oLinkInternal <span class="oLinkInternal"><span class="oLinkInternal">View more videos</span></span> Video false /event-news/intermat-2012/video/ true false%>

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Cast iron auction sales with IronPlanet
    April 18, 2012
    Online auction firm IronPlanet (IP) is a business with a truly global marketplace. It generated more than €450 million in 2011 via its worldwide used construction equipment sales. “Being pro-active is the key to what we do,” said managing director Tom Cornell. “Our software tells us who is looking [prior to online auctions] and who has bought similar equipment before and our online sales team rings them up and advises them about which online auctions may have equipment they are looking for. “This means a n
  • Hitachi aims for 20-30% growth in five years through mining offer
    January 6, 2017
    Hitachi Construction Machinery (Europe) president and chief executive Moriaki Kadoya believes HCME can achieve 20-30% sales revenue growth in the next five years through its wide range of mining-suited machines. The Hitachi Group subsidiary has a vast range of larger machines, including six crawler excavators – the 1200, 1900, 2600, 3600, 5600, and 800tonne 8000 model – which, Kadoya said, leaves HCME in an ideal position to pursue its ambitious growth target. The construction equipment industry giant also
  • Hitachi aims for 20-30% growth in five years through mining offer
    April 18, 2013
    Hitachi Construction Machinery (Europe) president and chief executive Moriaki Kadoya believes HCME can achieve 20-30% sales revenue growth in the next five years through its wide range of mining-suited machines. The Hitachi Group subsidiary has a vast range of larger machines, including six crawler excavators – the 1200, 1900, 2600, 3600, 5600, and 800tonne 8000 model – which, Kadoya said, leaves HCME in an ideal position to pursue its ambitious growth target. The construction equipment industry giant also
  • Fraccaroli & Balzan targets large quarries with its new filter press
    January 6, 2017
    Fraccaroli & Balzan, which designs, manufactures and installs waste water treatment systems, is showcasing its biggest filter press yet at bauma 2013. Previously the Italian firm only made lateral beam-type filter presses, which can only go up to a certain size and capacity. Now Fraccaroli & Balzan has developed high beam filter presses, which can be much larger and designed for quarries that need to process high volumes of material. “This filter press is for big quarries with big production that prefer to