In the first quarter of 2023 the turnover of printing and graphics machinery reached €627 million, up +7.3% over the same period in 2022. This is documented by the Acimga Study Centre together with the leap forward in exports (+23.6%) and the positive sentiment on the quarter just ended.
The sector of Italian printing machinery manufacturers, represented in Confindustria by Acimga, closed the first quarter of 2023 with a turnover of €627 million, up 7.3% compared to €584 million in the same period of 2022. The order index amounted to 491.7 million euro (544.1 million in Q1 2022) and was characterized by a strong foreign component worth 304.9 million euro, up +23.6% compared to 246.8 in Q1 2022, counteracting the slowdown in the domestic market.
The approval of foreign customers
These results, released by the Acimga study centre, point to further developments.
“The data of the first three months of the year deliver us a segment of great interest for foreign customers,” says Enrico Barboglio, General Manager of Acimga. “The export figure is in fact the highest since 2019: a significant signal, which encourages us to further improve our role as a reference for the international promotion of the sector. By flanking and supporting member companies that expect, for the next three months, a positive economic trend in terms of both turnover and volume of orders, both in foreign and domestic markets”.
“The trend that emerges from the data of our member companies confirms the dynamics of the production sectors recorded by Istat: capital goods, unlike the other main sectors of activity, register positive changes both on a monthly basis and in annual terms,” added Daniele Barbui, President of Acimga.
A good 2022
The Italian graphic, paper and converting machinery industry closed 2022 with an expanding turnover compared to the previous year. According to the data from the Acimga Study Centre, last year’s balance was 2,945 million euro (+7.3% compared to 2021), with exports growing to 1,750 million (+8.4%).
Exports drove the development, while domestic deliveries expanded less, but still reached 1,200 million, an increase of 5.8% compared to 2021. Imports, on the other hand, grew exponentially in Italy, reaching 735 million (+54.3% compared to the previous year), and the trade balance worsened to +1,015 million.
Employment is doing well, reaching 8,500 units (+3%): this is the second consecutive year of expansion, consistent with the positive trend in turnover and the centrality of skilled labour for companies in the sector.
Acimga (Associazione Costruttori Italiani di Macchine per l’Industria Grafica, Cartotecnica, Cartaria, di Trasformazione e Affini) currently has around 70 members, representing more than 60% of the total industry turnover and 70% of the export turnover.
