The pandemic that exploded almost a year ago has profoundly compromised the results of the Italian industry in the sector, which in 2020 recorded double-digit drops for all the main economic indicators. However, 2021 promises to be completely different and, even if the ground lost in these twelve months will not be fully recovered, the forecasts are decidedly positive.
This, in summary, was illustrated by Barbara Colombo, president of Ucimu – Sistemi per produrre, the association of Italian machine tool, robot and automation manufacturers, during the usual press conference at the end of the year.
As emerges from the preliminary data processed by the Ucimu – Sistemi per produrreBusiness Studies & Culture Center, in 2020, production fell to 4,970 million euros, marking a decrease of 23.7 percent compared to the previous year.
The result was determined both by the drop in deliveries by Italian manufacturers on the domestic market, which fell by 28.2 percent, to 2,090 million euros, and by the negative trend in exports which collapsed, by 20 percent, to 2,880 million euros.
According to Ucimu processing on Istat data, in the first nine months of the year (latest available survey), the decline in exports of machine tools alone was heavy and generalized. Sales in the United States, the first destination country for the made in Italy sector, fell to 229 million euros (-21.4 percent). Followed by: Germany 185 million (-31.2 percent); China 162 million (-28.2 percent); France 115 million (-34.3 percent); Poland 92 million (-30.8 percent).
The health emergency has made its effects felt even more incisively on the domestic front. In 2020, the consumption of machine tools, robots and automation in Italy fell by 30.3 percent to 3,385 million euros, penalizing both the deliveries of Italian manufacturers and imports, which fell by 33.4 percent to 1,295 million. .
The sharp reduction in domestic consumption of machine tools led to an increase in the export-to-production ratio, which went from 55.3 percent in 2019 to 57.9 percent in 2020.