The Italian ceramic machinery and equipment manufacturing industry is set to end 2012 with a slight fall in sales. A strong performance in the first six months of the year was offset by second-half falls. Preliminary year-end figures published by the Acimac Studies Centre (Italian Ceramic Machinery and Equipment Manufacturers’ Association) put the sector’s turnover at around € 1,6 bill., 8.6% down on 2011 but in any case 15.4% higher than in 2010. In 2012 the best performances were again recorded in international markets, which continue to account for more than 80% of total turnover.
However, the slowdown in growth during the last few months of 2012 is also alarming Acimac’s Chairman Fabio Tarozzi: “Since September we have been seeing a widespread downturn in the various world markets. The dynamism displayed by several countries is offset by the slowdown in a number of longstanding export markets such as Iran, China, India and Brazil.”