Growing turnoverfor machines

A press conference organized by Euromap (Europe's committee of associations for plastics and rubber machinery manufacturers) took place on Friday, October 29 during K 2010 to release industry figures for 2009, the pre-balance for 2010 and forecasts for 2011. Euromap's president Bernhard Merki and vice-president Luciano Anceschi were the speakers.
The European sector - represented by about 3,700 machinery, auxiliaries and mould manufacturers, with 98,000 employees and a turnover of about 13.3 billion euro in 2009 - recorded a 25% decrease compared to the 17.5 billion in revenues for 2008.
Not surprisingly, China (growing from 19.1 to 25.3% of the total) surpassed Germany (whose share fell from 25.3 to 22.6%) as the main producer of machinery, auxiliaries and moulds, whereas Italy maintained a steady third with a consolidated share (from 12.0 to 12.1%).
According to Euromap forecasts, 2010 will be a positive year after the heavy turmoil in 2009 (and the end of 2008). In particular, they have estimated a 10 to 15% growth (14.6-15.2 billion euro) in production, supported by the national Associations joining Euromap.
Concerning markets, Asia, with China and India leading the way, is showing the best performance together with Latin America (led by Brazil and Mexico). Meanwhile, very weak signals of recovery are arriving from the Russian market. According to Euromap, it is quite difficult to make reliable forecasts for 2011. It is both possible and probable that the recovery will continue to gain strength, assuming the market remains stable (e.g., no surprises coming from the euro/dollar exchange rate or other macro-economic factors).