Cinisello Balsamo, 3 July 2023. The year 2022 was extremely positive for the Italian manufacturing industry of machine tools, robots and automation systems, which registered double-digit increases and set new records for most economic indicators, among which production and consumption.
With these results, once again, the Italian industry of the sector confirmed to be one of the key players in the international scenario, where it came in fourth in the ranking of production, exports and consumption.
The year 2023 will still close with a positive sign, and thus with new records for the sector, but the order intake for the first part of the year showed a rather marked slowdown caused by the general atmosphere of uncertainty.
This is the framework summed up by the president of UCIMU-SISTEMI PER PRODURRE, Barbara Colombo, this morning, during the Members’ Meeting, which was also attended by Adolfo Urso, Minister for Enterprises and Made in Italy (via video link), Gian Maria Gros-Pietro, economist and president of Intesa Sanpaolo, and Federico Visconti, rector of LIUC Cattaneo University.
THE ACTUAL RESULTS OF 2022
According to the final data processed by the Economic Studies Department & Business Culture Centre of UCIMU, in 2022, the Italian production of machine tools, robots and automation systems reached 7,280 million euro, recording a 15% increase versus 2021. Consumption grew by 26% to 6,311 million euro, leading to a rise both in domestic deliveries (3,812 million euro; +21.6%) and in imports (2,499 million euro; +33.3%).
Exports also increased to 3,468 million euro in 2022, i.e. 8.5% more than in the previous year. The exports-to-production ratio dropped from 50.5% in 2021 to 47.6% in 2022.
In 2022, the main export markets for the Italian product offering were the United States (482 million euro, +43.5%), Germany (306 million euro, -13.3%), China (226 million euro, -0.7%), France (193 million euro, +9.6%), Poland (188 million euro, +6.2%), Turkey (124 million euro, -3.9%), Spain (119 million euro, +19.7%), Russia (99 million euro, -3.9%), Mexico (84 million euro, +5.2%) and Switzerland (74 million euro, +36.8%).
The positive performance of the Italian industry of the sector had a positive impact on the utilisation of production capacity, whose annual average went up significantly, going from 80.2% in 2021 to 86.6% in 2022. The order portfolio was also on the rise, attaining 8 months of guaranteed production versus 7.3 in the previous year.
The turnover of the sector achieved the amount of 10,482 million euro.
FORECASTS 2023
Based on the forecasts elaborated by the Economic Studies Department & Business Culture Centre of UCIMU, the year 2023 should also close with a positive trend, but the order intake of the first half of the year is at a standstill.
Production should stand at 7,750 million euro, i.e. 6.5% more than in the previous year, thus marking a new absolute record in the history of the Italian industry of the sector.
Consumption should rise to a new record-breaking value of 6,835 million euro (+8.3%), driving the manufacturers’ deliveries to the domestic market, which should achieve a new record, amounting to 4,155 million euro (+9%). Imports should also go up, attaining the value of 2,680 million euro (+7.3%).
Exports should grow to 3,595 million euro (+3.7%), thus returning to the pre-Covid levels.
Based on UCIMU processing on ISTAT data, in the first three months of 2023, the main export markets of the Italian machine tool offering were the United States (126 million euro, +35.4%), Germany (89 million euro, +43.8%), China (55.5 million euro, +23.3%), France (54 million euro, +33.9%), Poland (38 million euro, +10.2%), Turkey (34 million euro, +86.8%), Mexico (29 million euro, +49.7%), Czech Republic (27 million euro, +118%), Spain (25 million euro, -16.5%) and India (24 million euro, +38.9%).
COMMENTS AND PROPOSALS ON INDUSTRIAL POLICY
Barbara Colombo, president of UCIMU-SISTEMI PER PRODURRE, stated: “If we analyse the trend in the last three-year period 2021-2023, it is clear that the Italian machine tool industry has become stronger after the public health crisis, which it was able to face more effectively and energetically than many competitors, starting with Germany. These results prove our capabilities and the value of our agile and strongly innovation-oriented model of enterprises”.
“For several years now, companies in the sector have been working in a situation that could be defined as “unusual business”, in which changes of scenario are a constant variable. It is not easy, but we do and will do again in the future”.
“In response to the situation of general uncertainty that actually affected our order collection in the first half of the year, our enterprises have identified some challenges on which they intend to concentrate in the medium-long term future, in order to strengthen their positioning in the international market: innovation that translates into digitalisation&sustainability, availability of skilled personnel, servitisation and internationalisation”.