According to early data, 2021 may be the year of the beginning of a recovery for the ceramic equipment industry. Due to the pandemic, Italian ceramic equipment manufacturers suffered a heavy drop in sales: 2020 ended with -18% in revenues compared to 2019 and -36.6% in sales on the Italian market. Also weighing down was the drop in exports: -13% compared to the previous year.
The Mecs-Acimac study center has analyzed the first data for 2021, testifying that the sample of companies kept under review is slowly recovering. This is partly because the ceramics sector, in general, is restarting globally, with production back on track in several countries.
According to Mecs-Acimac interviews, about 9 out of 10 companies have, to date, said they are experiencing stable or increasing sales in the domestic market, but with a slowdown on the export side.
However, there is no shortage of some difficulties that emerged in the first part of 2021, mainly related to the cost of procurement of raw materials such as cobalt.
"Already in the final data at the end of 2020," said Paolo Mongardi, president of Acimac, in a note, "it emerged that the end of the Covid emergency could coincide with the physiological recovery of the ceramic machinery sector, after two years of modest investments by customers. Although caution is in order, as far as the 2021 trend is concerned, what was a hope in this first quarter has seen the first signs of confirmation."
