Italian construction machine market growing

A slow but steady improvement in machine sales is being observed in Italy as the market recovers. Over the first three months of 2016, 1,977 construction machines have been sold into the Italian market, according to the country’s construction equipment manufacturing association, the UNACEA. This gain in sales represents an increase of 29% compared to the same period in 2015. The sales were for 1,879 earthmoving machines and 76 road machines.
May 4, 2016 Read time: 2 mins

A slow but steady improvement in machine sales is being observed in Italy as the market recovers. Over the first three months of 2016, 1,977 construction machines have been sold into the Italian market, according to the country’s construction equipment manufacturing association, the 2539 UNACEA. This gain in sales represents an increase of 29% compared to the same period in 2015. The sales were for 1,879 earthmoving machines and 76 road machines.

“The growth recorded in the first quarter confirms the observation made last year, the Italian market seems to have chosen the recovery path,” said Paolo Venturi, president of Unacea. “However, we are facing very low figures if compared with the pre-crisis level. The expectations and the climate of business confidence are advantageous, especially in the residential and infrastructural construction industry. The risk is that expectations will not be fulfilled, cancelling any benefit both for industry and market. This is the reason why we continue to ask the government for a greater intervention policy on the infrastructural development of the country. We continue to ask the local authorities the implementation of clear rules for construction. Finally, we demand a radical change of the outlooks of our industry made by the credit system, that continue to consider in a conservative way companies in the sector of construction industry”.

Less optimistic is that construction machine exports in January 2016 were €135 million, a drop of 11.6% compared to the performance for the same period in 2015.

The export of road equipment increased by 12%, while exports of tower cranes dropped by just 0.2%. However negative trends were seen for sales of other construction machine types. Exports of crushing and screening equipment fell 31.5%, while exports of earthmoving machines and attachments dropped 8.6%, concrete equipment by 7% and drilling equipment by 4%. A positive note for the Italian construction market overall was that imports of machines climbed 2.7%, although the trade balance decreased by 15.5% but maintained a surplus of more than €98 million.

Finance & Funding

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Strong equipment exports are aiding Italian construction equipment manufacturers
    May 18, 2012
    Details from the Italian construction equipment manufacturing asscoaition, UNACEA, show that domestic machine sales are still falling, while exports keep on growing. However exports are growing at a slower rate than in 2011. Over the first quarter of 2012, 1,820 construction machines were sold on the Italian market, a drop of 22.4% from the same period in 2011. These included 1,734 earthmoving machines, a fall of 22.4% compared to the first quarter of 2011, while there were 40 road machines sold, a drop of
    Read More
  • Italian manufacturer body Unacea reveals machine exports
    October 31, 2014
    The Italian construction equipment manufacturer body Unacea has revealed comprehensive information on machine sales and exports. The data shows that construction machine sales in Italy grew 12% in the first nine months of 2014. However exports fell 7% and Unacea believes that the export performance of Italian manufacturers on the world market will have shrunk by the end of the year compared with the figures for 2013. Over the first nine months of 2014, construction equipment sold in the Italian market sto
    Read More
  • Low Italian machine sales
    May 22, 2013
    The number of construction machines sold on the Italian market decreased by 36% in the first quarter of 2013 compared to the same period of 2012, according to Unacea, the association for Italian construction equipment attachment manufacturers. In Q1 2013, Unacea says 1,157 machines were sold domestically, of which 1,106 were earthmoving machines, 23 were road machines, and 28 were concrete machine/equipment sales. Moreover, according to the foreign trade monitor of the Construction Equipment Outlook publish
    Read More
  • Construction machine sales strengthening in Italy
    November 28, 2016
    Construction machine sales are strengthening around the globe. A report from the SaMoTer-Veronafiere Outlook reveals that 7,551 construction machines were sold in Italy over the period from January-September 2016. This represents a gain of 32% from the same period in 2015 and a further increase of 37% is estimated in Italy for the two-year period 2017-2018. Worldwide the first nine months of 2016 saw sales around the world of 496,500 earth moving machines, a drop of around 5,000 less (1%) compared to th
    Read More

Highlighted Content