Italian machinery for construction worksites is showing no sign of recovery. Following on the strongly negative trend reported for 2010, when the overall decline came to 8.9% by year-end, dozers, excavators, mechanical shovels, backhoe loaders, mini excavators and mini shovels, dumpers and telescopic handlers remained in the red in the first quarter of 2011. In fact, according to data developed by the manufacturers associations and importers, the decline came to 14.3% under the 2010 figure for the same quarter representing 2,236 fewer machines taken up by the domestic market. The road construction machinery sector, rollers and vibro-finishers, turned in an ever worse performance with a plunge of 42.3% under sales in the same quarter last year.
A look at the single lines of production discloses less a drastic drop for traditional machinery, excavators and shovels, down 10.9%, a larger falloff of 17.3% for the compacts, mini excavators and mini shovels, and a steep decline of 35.7% for backhoe loaders.
Unlike what occurred in the agricultural machinery sector, where tractor sales leaped 22% in the first quarter thanks to incentives which ran out at the end of 2010 and financing made available through Rural Development Plans, earthmoving machinery drew little benefit from the incentive package, accounting for a modest 7% of all the funds assigned to mechanization.
Unacoma/Comamoter President Massimo Goldoni said, “Beyond this aspect, the earthmoving sector is suffering from the bad trend of building construction and great works activities and is in need not only of incentives but also a broad and well articulated strategy.” He went on to point out, “Precisely for this reason, with the Ministry for Economic Development and other organizations representing the various categories in the worksite machinery sector, we created a crisis table in mid-April for studying a package of interventions, including awarding companies tendering bids which then purchase of new machinery, measures to oppose the import of machinery not in compliance with the requirements stipulated by European regulations and initiatives for the recovery of Italian manufacturers in foreign markets.”
Rome, May 10, 2011
