Italian technology spells leadership in exports

MACHINERY for the dairy industry is a record-setting market in Italy and next year it will finally have its own specialized showcase: Dairytech, the vertical exhibition taking place in conjunction with IPACK-IMA from May 19 to 23 next year at Fieramilano.

Italy is the world’s first exporter of technology for the dairy industry: In 2013, it sold machinery on foreign markets for a total value of € 65.8 million, with a growth of 27% which more than made up for the drop suffered in 2012. Over half of exports are shipped to the European continent, but over the last few years, the export share bound for Asia (particularly Malaysia, Bangladesh, Thailand and India) has also increased.

A comparison with other main countries exporting machinery for the daily industry worldwide emphasizes Italy’s leading role over the last five years: It was the first exporting country in 2010, 2011 and 2013 and the second one in 2009 and 2012. Last year, in particular, 13% of all exported machinery was “Made in Italy.” The latest data available in the first semester 2014 confirms Italy’s leadership. Other countries with relevant export shares include Denmark, Sweden and Germany.

According to a qualitative survey by the Ipack-Ima Observatory (first semester 2014 performance and second semester 2014 forecasts), after leaving behind a not-so-brilliant first semester, the second one should end with definitely better results, especially because of good performance of exports.

On the technology user front, the Italian dairy market shows a substantially stable performance in terms of value and a slight decrease in terms of quantity for butter and milk, while cheese remains stable, since 2007. Domestic production and imports also show no major changes (essentially equal for milk, with Italian-produced butter and cheese exceeding 60%). As shown by the qualitative data of the Ipack-Ima observatory, this market area closed the first half of the year with positive results, particularly in terms of exports. The positive trend expected by companies should continue through the last six months of 2014; only employment is expected to remain completely stable.

Dairytech – the first-ever specialized exhibition for the dairy industry – will be part of a great event together with IPACK-IMA, Meat-Tech, Fruit Innovation, Converflex and Intralogistica Italia. It will serve as a crucial springboard for the global dairy industry given the attractiveness of the event (2,500 exhibiting companies and 80,000 expected visitors) and the conjunction with the EXPO 2015, whose theme is “Feed the planet. Energy for life.”