The General Assembly of Federazione Carta e Grafica, held during Print4All fair on 3rd May, was opened by a report from the Federation’s President Carlo Emanuele Bona who illustrated the supply chain and the relative sectors’ data for 2021: overall the segment is worth 25.3 billion euros, 1.4% of Italian GDP, and has a positive trade balance of 4 billion euros.
A growth of 15.7%, equal to 3.4 billion euros compared to 2020, bringing the sector back above pre-pandemic levels. A result driven by the record growth of the paper industry, by an excellent trend in the production of printing and converting machines and by a good growth in the graphic publishing sector.
“This increase – Bona clarified in his report – is certainly the result of an actual production growth, but it must also be interpreted considering the sharp increase in prices that characterized the whole of 2021, especially in the final months of the year. Increases that refer specifically to the paper sector, which has tried to keep up with the huge increases in fibrous raw materials prices and in gas and energy costs”.
Satisfaction with the excellent market results is mitigated by concerns related to the current scenario: “Energy increases, increases in raw material prices and supplies difficulties, and, above all, the daily uncertainty in which we find ourselves operating make it really difficult for each of us to do business. In the first quarter of 2022 the situation worsened as a consequence of the Russian – Ukraine conflict. The solution, in some circumstances is to stop production to ensure the cost-effectiveness of our companies, provided that the cause of the stop is not the lack of raw materials. This is a new and never seen before fact, which perfectly highlights the gravity of the situation”, said Bona.
