Steel Market 01 / 2020

Italy and Southern Europe
Special
»Consumption level back
to normal«
Orders for machine tools took a negative turn
In 2019, the number of orders for machine tools took a negative turn in Italy. In the fourth quarter,
the UCIMU index of machine tool orders registered a 16% downturn compared with the same
period in the previous year. The absolute value of the index was 105.5 (base 100 in 2015).
UCIMU-SISTEMI PER PRODURRE is the Italian association for machine tool, robots, automation
systems and ancillary products (NC, tools, components, accessories).
The overall numbers were affected
both by the negative performance
of the domestic market and by
weak foreign demand. Domestic orders
showed a 21.2% drop compared with
the fourth quarter of 2018. The absolute
value of the index was 172, so despite
the reduction, still positive.
Foreign orders dropped by 13.8%
compared with the October-December
period in 2018. The absolute value of
the index stood at 91.5. On an annual
basis, the total index recorded a 17.9%
decrease compared with the previous
year. This result was due to the drop in
both the domestic (-23.9%) and the
foreign markets (-15.4%).
»The downturn registered in the
fourth quarter of 2019 confirmed our
expectations,« said Massimo Carboniero,
President of UCIMU-SISTEMI PER
PRODURRE. »It shows that people are
less inclined to invest, both domestically
and abroad. On the domestic front,
the index of orders placed in Italy in
2019 showed a progressive reduction,
which proves that the Italian consumption
level of production systems is
dropping back to what is typical for our
market. After all, we could not expect
the Italian demand to maintain the
growth level we experienced in the
three years of 2016-2018.«
»That said, we do need to prevent a
new freeze on investments, which would
take our manufacturing industry back
many years and nullify the good results
UCIMU-members are focusing on Asian customers, supplying them with for
example laser cutting tools.
obtained thanks to the >Industry 4.0<
Plan, with the risk of interrupting the
ongoing process of technological transformation
in our Italian industry.«
Investments needed
The results of a survey conducted by
UCIMU in 2014 on the total number of
machines in operation in Italy showed
a dangerous amount of ageing of the
production systems installed in Italian
manufacturing facilities. In ten years,
from 2005 to 2014, the factories in the
country innovated very little and the
average age of machines turned out to
be the highest ever, almost 13 years.
»Even if the competitiveness tools
implemented by the >Industry 4.0<
Plan contributed to recover from that
obsolescence, we cannot assume that
everything is solved because, in the
meantime, our foreign competitors
keep on investing and we must take
them in due consideration if we want
to preserve the competitiveness of the
Italian manufacturing industry.«
In this regard, the association thinks
that the new tax measures included in
the 2020 Budget Law, in place of Super-
and Hyper-Depreciation are technically
suited to support the upgrade of machines
and equipment and the transformation
of the Italian industry from a digital
point of view. What UCIMU does not
regard as appropriate is their applicability
period, which is always 12 months.
»For this reason,« continues Massimo
Carboniero, »we have requested the
Copyright: UMICU-SISTEMI PER PRODURRE
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