The Italian graphic, converting and paper machinery industry limits its losses

The increase in commodities consumption and home deliveries allowed the machinery and technologies manufacturers for packaging production to end 2020 with lower-than-expected losses, specifically on foreign markets, strategic for the whole industry.

“The Italian machine manufacturers for the graphic, converting and paper industry limits the negative trend resulting from the pandemic, thanks to packaging. I hope that the Government will see the strategic role that packaging has played in this critical phase of our economy, and that it will put aside possible scenarios, such as the « plastic tax » which would throw the entire industry into a serious crisis. We hope that a vaccine will soon allow the country to get back on his feet, and foremost we hope to be able to get back in foreign markets, which represent 60% of the turnover of our sector,” said Aldo Peretti, President of Acimga.
The dynamism of companies specialized in the development of printing, packaging, and converting technologies for all applications and for all types of materials, results in limited losses for the 2020 financial year in comparison to the forecasts and shows glimpses of recovery. This is what appears from the 2020 preliminary balance data provided by the Study Office of Acimga (the Association of Italian Manufacturers of Machinery for the Graphic, Converting and Paper Industry) indicating that printing, converting, and paper machines gained a turnover of 2.36 billion €, recording a global decrease of 16.7% compared to 2019, with exports falling only by 14.4% to 1.45 billion €. Slightly more worrying is the negative trend (- 20.2% equal to 910 million euros) in supplies related to the national market, but it still is reassuringly positive in respect to that of the Italian machineries industry which, according to Federmacchine’s estimates, reaches – 27%. A detailed look at the specific compartments, highlights the production of packaging (for food, pharmaceuticals, and e-commerce) during the lockdown period, with an increase in other specific productions in support to the emergency. Projections from IMF scenario data and historical projections from the UN’s Comtrade, Eurostat and the US Census Bureau expect to limit losses to 5.5% or 12.8 billion, while exports are down by 7.2%, or 8.18 billion.

Part of 655 issue – February 21. All rights reserved except agreement written by Emballage Digest or mention of the magazine