The industry manufacturing components for agricultural and earthmoving machinery reported for 2011 an 8% increase in the OEM sector, Original Equipment Manufacturer, that is, supplies direct to these industries, with surges in the agricultural merchandise category and the one associated with the building and construction industries. On the side of the After Market sector, spare parts and accessories, the trend was negative with a decline of 5% compared to the previous year. Overall, the value of production was estimated at about € 1.5 billion. These figures were provided by Comacomp, the association within FederUnacoma which represents the Italian industries manufacturing components for agricultural and earthmoving machinery. The numbers are based on data compiled through a survey of Comacomp members on the trend of the past year and prospects for 2012.
Expectations for the current year are clouded by the climate of general uncertainty prevailing in the global economy and the resulting cautious approach to purchasing by the manufacturers of finished products and businesses in post-sales. In detail, forecasts for the OEM market call for a negative trend in the first six months of the year and a gain of some 7% by the close of the year, again led by the agricultural sector, especially components for medium to high-power range tractors. The outlook for the AM sector is that this market will remain substantially in line with the negative results of 2011.
According to Alessandro Malavolti, the Comacomp president, “The keystone for coping with and overcoming the difficulties arising out of the ongoing crisis, real and perceived, is to be necessarily found in the capacity of the industries to offer more and more innovative products and bring to the field business strategies up to the demands of old and new markets.”
Exports are, in fact, among the leading objectives in the strategies of these industries in Comacomp, eighty of the most important Italian manufacturers in the sector with exports which account for 80% of sales. Thus the association has drawn up plans for 2012 which include a string of such foreign vocation initiatives as B2B encounters with businesspeople from Morocco, Turkey, the Maghreb countries and elsewhere and institutional appearances and collective participation in trade fair events beginning with two appointments, ExpoAgro in Argentina in March and the AgriShow in Brazil in April.
In this connection, EIMA International is scheduled for November 7 to 11, an exhibition sponsored by FederUnacoma and managed by Unacoma Service Surl, organized by manufacturers for manufacturers. Since 2008, the trade fair has featured as one of the specialized salons EIMA Components with the focus on this sector. New for this year will be an OEM vernissage on the day before opening dedicated to producers with technical seminars and workshops.
Also at EIMA International, Comacomp will present the 2013/2014 Repertoire of Components, an important instrument for gaining an understanding of Italian components and their promotion. The volume will include the complete nomenclature of the ranges and products, profiles of the manufacturers according to merchandise category and their products and the new edition, other than full texts in Italian and English, will provide summaries in Chinese, Japanese, Russian and Spanish.
Rome, February 10, 2012
