The annual assembly of Acimall – the Italian association of woodworking machinery and tools manufacturers – appointed the new board members for the 2022-2025 term. The board has been joined by Giorgio Casati (Casati Macchine; Marnate, Varese), Roberto Ghizzoni (Dierregi; Carpi, Modena), Stefania Maggi (Maggi Technology; Certaldo, Florence) and Pierluigi Paoletti (Paoletti Energy; Borgo Valbelluna, Belluno). The assembly also voted to extend the mandate of board member Aldo Zaffaroni (Mario Zaffaroni e Figli; Turate, Como).
Until next June, President Luigi De Vito (SCM; Rimini) and Vice President Marianna Daschini (Greda; Mariano Comense, Como), will remain in charge, i.e. until the member companies will be summoned to change or confirm their roles, after the decision to differentiate the dates for the board and presidency terms, in order to ensure the operating continuity of the association board.
The Acimall President Luigi De Vito stressed the uniqueness of the events that have occurred in the past few years all over the world, and the many issues, often critical, that remain to be solved in the near future: “The past two years were a turning point also for our association, as we had to leverage all our resources to stay vital and proactive, and to respond effectively to our member companies in a period of great uncertainty”, De Vito said.
However, the past two years have also been very satisfactory from a business standpoint, as the Italian production of woodworking machinery and tools amounted to Euro 2.5 billion, with a 36% increase on 2020 and 11% compared to 2019. Good results also for export (Euro 1.7 billion, up by 30% compared to 2020 and 10% versus 2019), as well as for domestic sales, amounting to Euro 790 million, with a 52% growth versus 2020 and 15% over 2019. Import also expanded (Euro 244 million, 59% more than in 2020 and 21% more than in 2019), and consequently also apparent consumption in Italy, exceeding the billion- Euro threshold (up by 54% over 2020 and 16% over 2019). The trade balance was also very positive, equal to Euro 1.5 billion, i.e. 27% more than in 2020 and 8% more than in 2019).
Luigi De Vito then stressed that “…our industry has brilliantly overcome this difficult two-year period: state incentives played a key role for sure, but without excessively affecting the market trend. The growth we are seeing now is not only driven by incentives, which have substantially caused a concentration of investment decisions within a shorter timeframe; expansion is also resulting from a structural rally that has taken the market back to its standard development lines”. Then, he also mentioned the Russian invasion of Ukraine: “Looking at headline news, we can say that the Russia-Ukraine crisis has so far had a limited impact on our export. Russia, Ukraine and Belarus together account for a significant share of Italian export in our industry, approximately 5% of total export; however, such export seems to continue, despite a significant reduction due to the current embargo that has been gradually expanded with the adoption of progressive sanctions”.
Optimism prevails for the future, although provisioning difficulties and conflict-related issues, plus the possible rally of the Covid pandemic, might shuffle the cards once again. “We can reasonably expect – De Vito said – that, by the end of this year, the Italian production of woodworking machinery and tools might reach a new historical record”.
The Acimall president then reviewed the promotion activities, a focus area for the association, benefiting from the economic and organization support of ICE-Agenzia; the initiatives promoted through Confindustria, CFI-Comitato Fiere Industria, the membership of Federmacchine (the Italian federation that gathers all the mechanical industry associations, with the Acimall president sitting in the board) and Eumabois, the federation of the European associations of wood and furniture technology manufacturers, where De Vito holds the role of vice president.
