The overall turnover of the Glass Processing Technologies Sector exceeds 3 billion euros for the first time, recording an increase of 3% compared to the previous year: an apparently contained but more than positive figure, considering that it follows two years of strong growth after the contraction of 2020 due to the pandemic and consolidates a trajectory which, without the Covid parenthesis, would have continued regularly.
Milan, 9 February 2024 – During the GIMAV Assembly on 17 January, they were the 2023 preliminary results presented for the Glass Processing Technologies Sector, collected by the GIMAV Study Center, That the President Dino Zandonella Necca commented: "2023 was a year of consolidation, characterized by growth that we could define as normal, in the best sense of the term, after the technical rebound following the collapse of 2020. After +25,5% in 2021 and +16,5% in 2022, it is consistent to witness a deceleration in 2023 where growth stabilizes (+3%), confirming a trend that if compared with the last year of "normality", 2019, continued without a hitch, net of the Covid parenthesis.
The positive results we note are the result of the work of all the players in the sector who, thanks to investments and innovations, for example in the field of energy efficiencyica, they are helping to keep the industry vibrant, modern and increasingly sustainable. If we think, for example, of the real estate market, we observe that, in a context in which the other sectors involved are in recession, the glass sector is reacting well, in a much more competitive way compared to alternative materials, a fact from which the technology industry. Considering all this we can talk about a new youth for this sector".
Sector that Moreover for the first time in history it should exceed 3 billion euros in turnover, even if through not particularly homogeneous trends for the three sectors that compose it: in fact we move from accessories, which remain substantially stable compared to 2022 (+0,2%), to hollow glass which grows by 2,1%, up to flat glass which recorded a +6,5%.
Exports are confirmed as the most important item of turnover amounting overall to around 2 million, which is equivalent to two thirds of the total turnover, denoting the relevance of the international market for the Sector, despite a not particularly lively trend (+0,4% compared to 2022). Even in the case of exports, the sectors show different trends, with accessories and flat glass losing slightly compared to 2022 (1,2% and 0,6% respectively) and hollow glass recording a +6,2%.
Net of a stable and indeed slightly growing performance on the international market, the performance of the national market was even better, growing by 5,8%. Italian producers are particularly able to take advantage of this liveliness of the internal market (+8,1% of internal deliveries) compared to competitors on the international market (+1,9% of imports).
Also in this case the trends of the flat glass, hollow glass and accessories sectors are not entirely homogeneous: in flat glass processing technologies, where the national market records a +18,8%, internal deliveries grow by 17,7% and imports by 33,4%. Similar trend although with smaller percentages for the domestic accessories market (+3,8%) where imports grow by 4,5% and domestic deliveries by 3,1%. The national market for hollow glass technologies, on the other hand, went against the trend (-13,5%), where domestic deliveries fell by 9,8% and imports recorded a decrease of 17,7%.
The sector's trade balance stands at around 1 billion and 400 million, a very positive figure but slightly decreasing compared to 2022 (-0,2%): the trade balance of the accessories sector recorded a -7,3%, as already observed as a result of the growth in imports and the simultaneous decline in exports; the trade balance of the flat glass technology sector fell by 2,3% as a result of exports remaining almost stable, penalized by the growth in imports of over 30%; on the other hand, the balance of the hollow glass sector is very positive (+16,7%), where, unlike the other sectors, imports decrease by 17,7% and exports grow by 6,2%.
That the industry in the sector is overall excellent is also confirmed by the competitiveness indices: in fact, almost two thirds of the production turnover is destined abroad, demonstrating the ability to penetrate the international market, and more than 50% of the national market is satisfied by Italian producers, demonstrating the great capacity of the latter too.
Observing the 2023 performance, overall the penetration capacity of international markets has slightly decreased for the Sector, due to the decreased penetration capacity of the flat glass technologies and accessories sector, respectively from 61,3% in 2022 to 57,2% in 2023, and from 67,7% to 66,8%, counterbalanced by the growth in this sense of the hollow glass technologies sector, which went from 74,4% in 2022 to 77,4% in 2023. On the other hand, the overall capacity of the Sector to control the national market has grown (in 2022 it was equal to 62,8% and in 2023 to 64,1%), where the decline in the capacity to control the national market of the flat glass technologies sector (from 93,2% to 92,3%) and accessories (from 48% to 47,6%) was contrasted by the growth of the hollow glass technologies sector (from 53,1% to 55,4%).
Within the sectors that make up the Sector and which stand in a position of excellence, oneica the exception is the accessories and other technologies sector, which instead presents itself as a prestigious niche.
"We can say that 2023 was a year of positive normality” – commented GIMAV Director Fabrizio Cattaneo – “Overall good results for all sectors, which, except perhaps for a couple of specific cases, consolidate the trajectory of the past year. Those experiencing a slight slowdown to a greater extent are perhaps Made in Italy Accessories which, however, as the competitiveness indices show, stand out more than other sectors for niche production: not exactly the most typical investment choiceica of a consolidation phase. In a historical moment in which we had no reason to expect sensational leaps forward, these results do not surprise us, on the contrary, they reassure us and make us optimistic for the future".
Press Office – InRete
Chiara Signorotto
Mob: +39 347.2616700
Giulia Lucchi
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Lorenzo Dell'Angelo
lorenzo.dellangelo@in-rete.net
Mob: +39 328.4377266
