For Xylon, the Acimall Studies Office has laid down the ranking of the business results of wood-related industries, including “Woodworking machinery and tools“, “Production of wooden furniture”, “Production of wood-based panels and semifinished materials”, “Production of wooden doors and windows”, “Wooden houses and elements for the construction industry” and “Wood and furniture trade”.
The year under scrutiny is 2021, strongly impacted by the positive rally after 2020, when companies were forced to close down for several months due to the pandemic.
WOODWORKING TECHNOLOGY
As usual, the main focus of this article is the woodworking technology industry and its trend compared to previous years. The rankings for the wood-furniture domain give a full picture of the value chain.
The analysis – summed up in the table on page 17 – takes into consideration the top-50 Italian companies (Ateco code 2007) in terms of sales revenues in 2021. The ranking also includes companies with mixed production, where you cannot separate the revenue share associated to wood technology, based on the financial data we have.
Scm Group from Rimini, Biesse from Pesaro, and Cefla from Imola take the top-three positions. For the sake of correct information, we point out that the third-ranked company’s core business is not woodworking technology.
The 50 companies listed in the ranking have total revenues of 3,064 million euro, versus 2,440 in 2020, with an average value of 61 million per company (it was 48 in 2020). As you can see in chart 1 (on page 14), the revenue level of the 50th company, i.e. the first one above the “entry level” of our ranking, has strongly increased. One of the key evidences of the historical trend of this variable is that the value is very high, close to 2008, so even before the 2009 crisis.
However, it should also be noticed that inflation started to grow again in 2021, driven by soaring raw material prices globally.
The median, corresponding to the 25th position of the ranking (13,2 million Euro), is higher than the previous year, and the average Ebitda followed the same trend, at 6.9 million euro.
Chart 2 shows a strong concentration of companies with increasing revenues, some of them recording significant growth rates, especially in comparison with 2020, as already mentioned.
2021 AND THE CURRENT ECONOMIC SITUATION
Commenting upon the year 2021 is definitely a risky business under the present circumstances, with fast-paced economic phases and changing scenarios. Looking at the figures, the year under scrutiny was characterized by solid expansions, for sure in comparison with the Covid period, but also because the market offered a few opportunities that the companies were quick to seize, and that came back again in early 2022.
Demand increased both on the international markets and in Italy, not only for a “natural” rebound, but also for the fiscal incentives of the Industry 4.0 plan launched in Italy and similar plans in other countries.
Another factor to be considered, as already mentioned, is the increase of the prices of raw materials first, and then energy sources, which caused an inflation rate basically in line with the expansion rate of the economy.
It’s hard to measure the impact of these trends on the revenues of companies, but we can say for sure that the industry grew in 2021, and such growth continued in 2022, at a pace that we haven’t seen for decades.
As a consequence, the books of orders extended beyond six months of ensured production, as confirmed by our quarterly surveys, driven by increasing demands and the “bottleneck” caused by the scarcity of raw materials and components.
Looking ahead, we can say that the economy has now switched to a “wait-and-see” mode. On one hand, the increase of raw materials prices has slowed down and energy prices are falling, chasing away the fears for booming energy bills; on the other, the incentives to purchase advanced technology are coming to an end, at least in Italy, as these measures were only temporary.
So, it will be hard to repeat the results of the 2021-2022 period.
Probably – in a strongly export-oriented business such as the instrumental goods industry – the results of our companies will largely depend on the international scenario. Like never before, the recent years have seen events, like the Russia-Ukraine war, that have negatively impacted some regions. However, the widespread reach of Italian export, covering the entire world, allows to balance the different export flows, thus ensuring the stability of global demand.
