Page 34 - MetalForming Magazine September 2022

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Italy has proven itself as a metal future course. “Therefore, despite the
forming machine-tool worldwide
power, both in supply and in end use. Data from 2021, compiled by the Economic Studies Department and Business Culture of UCIMU-Sistemi Per Produrre, the Italian machine tools, robots and automation systems man- ufacturers’ association, bear this out. Italy ranks third worldwide in both machine-tool exports and in machine- tool consumption, according to the data, and is poised for growth as we exit the pandemic. For example, Italy registered an 18-percent increase in manufacture of machine tools in 2021, and a 22.7- percent rise in consumption.
Interestingly, while the large 2021 export increase does fall below export levels between 2017 and 2019, the numbers indicate Italy’s ability to absorb machine-tool manufacture for domestic use, and its capacity to supply worldwide, even in the midst of extreme challenges.
“Business in foreign markets is essential for Italian manufacturers,” says Barbara Colombo, UCIMU-Sistemi Per Produrre president, explaining a
difficulties caused first by the pandemic and then by the (Russia-Ukraine) war, it is necessary to develop our business overseas, not only to recover the ground lost over the last two years. The current situation should lead the Italian machine-tool-manufacturing enter- prises to reconsider the order of priority of markets. Even if it is important to keep on exploring new areas of desti- nation for ‘Made in Italy,’ today it is fundamental to be present and develop business in traditional markets, in par- ticular in Europe and in the United States. This should occur with a view to gaining market shares in the areas, whose economies will be more easily concerned with commercial relations in the near future.”
It is against this backdrop that Met- alForming was invited, through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and of Inter- national Cooperation, and ICE-Italian Trade Agency, to attend Italy’s largest metal machine-tool tradeshow, Lamiera, held in Milan this past May. After the pandemic-caused postpone- ment of the biannual event last year,
Italy’s premier metal forming and fabricating event returned live this past spring, as Italian technology providers took center stage with advanced sheet- processing equipment.
BY LOUIS A. KREN, SENIOR EDITOR