Foreign trade in construction machinery and equipment held up in the first six months of 2015, confirming a positive balance of trade for Italian industry coming to €950.8 million, posting substantial stability (+0.1%) compared to the same period in the previous year.
Exports of earthmoving machinery and equipment, road machinery; concrete plant; tower cranes; aggregate preparation machinery, and drilling machinery in the period January-June came to a total of€1.242 billion, up by 5.9% compared to the first six months of 2014. Imports came to €291.6 million, up by 31.1% over the same period one year earlier.
Sales to Russia fell by 63.3%), following the Ukraine crisis sanctions and the devaluation of the rouble.
These are the initial data released by the
The Bologna-based company, a leader in consulting services, software and economic research, with more than 500 professionals in five countries worldwide, has signed a three-year agreement with Veronafiere.
The aim is to provide stakeholders such as exhibitors, operators and visitors in SaMoTer (the international trade fair for the sector (the next edition is scheduled in Verona 22-25 February, 2017), with tools analysing current and future scenarios in the sector.
The Observatory in cooperation with UNACEA (Italian Construction Equipment Association) is said to assure SaMoTer even more status as a landmark for market information and market intelligence.
The agreement between Veronafiere-SaMoTer and Prometeia, to bel be presented in detail in coming weeks, will provide information on three levels: a foreign trade monitor with monthly import-export updates; building industry monitor with quarterly updates on construction market trends in Italy, and an annual update report on the world market for earthmoving machinery.
Trends on world markets in the six sectors covered by SaMoTer are rather different. In particular, exports of earthmoving machinery and equipment increased between January and June by 8.3% over the same period in 2014, amounting to €524.2 million, while imports leapt by 38.1% to €208.7 million.
A two-figure performance for exports of roadbuilding machinery, up by 14.7% to €60.6 million. Imports grew by 11.2% to €9 million.
There was a slight downturn for concrete machinery: export sales fell back by 3.3% to €163.8 million, and imports performed even worse, down by 24.4% to €4.1 million in the period January-June 2015.
Tower cranes posted a positive result with €110.4 million in foreign sales, an increase of 28% while imports posted a similar trend, improving to €11.8 million, up 250.6%.
On the other hand, exports of aggregate preparation machinery fell back by 2.1% to €217.7 million, while imports increased by 26% to €49 million.
Drilling machinery saw international sales grow by 4.9% to €165.8 million, while imports fell back by 42.3% to €9 million in the first six months of the year compared to the same period in 2014.
Western Europe is still one of the key markets for construction machinery in some of the six sectors covered by SaMoTer, up by 6.9% to €466.5 million in the first six months of the year compared to the same period in 2014.
Sales in Russia plummeted from more than €81 million to €29.7 million in the period January to June, posting -63.3% compared to the previous year. This was the outcome of Ukraine crisis sanctions and the devaluation of the rouble.
Good improvements in sales were seen in the Middle East totalling €117.7 million (+13.8%); Asia with €123.9 million (+39.6%); North America with €115.7 million (+31.5%), and Africa with +7.4% up to €152.2 million, confirming its position as the second regional area for Italian exports in value terms.
There was also good growth in Oceania, with +9.2% up to €23.5 million.
Exports in Turkey and Central-Eastern Europe were stable in the first six months of the year compared to the same period in 2014, posting €138.3 million, as was also the case for Central and Southern America at €72.1 million (+0.9%).
Imports between January and June from Western Europe rose by 30.2% to €222.2 million; by 36.6% to €31.4 million from Asia; 10.2% to €18.3 million from North America; 84.9% to €16 million from Central-Eastern Europe and Turkey, while imports from other countries in Europe, Central-South America and Oceania remained minor.
Imports from Africa fell back by 44.5% to €1.1 million euros, while purchases from Russia were practically nil.
