GIMAV GENERAL ASSEMBLY 2021: 2020 SECTOR DATA AND 2021 PROJECTIONS PRESENTED. THE BOARD OF ARBITRATORS AND THE SOLE AUDITOR ALSO APPOINTED.
The data presented at the Assembly show the impact that the COVID-19 pandemic has had on the performance of the glass processing technology sector which, however, has been able to react; the good start of 2021 bodes well for an at least partial recovery. During the meeting, the Board of Arbitrators and the Sole Auditor were appointed for the period 2021 - 2025.
SECTOR PERFORMANCE IN 2020
Production at -16,6%, a result due to the decline in both exports (-14,9%) and domestic deliveries (-20,7%): this is the effect that the pandemic crisisica had on the performance of the Italian Glass Processing Machinery and Technology Industry, which closed 2020 with a total turnover of 2.027 million euros.
Imports are also decreasing (-11,1%), consequently the national market is contracting (-17,2%). Overall, the volume of trade decreased (-14,2%) as did the trade balance (-16,1%), which however remains largely positive for almost 1.080 million euros.
If 2020 was a year of crisis on a global level, Italian companies in the sector demonstrated an excellent reaction and capacity for resilience, as demonstrated by industry experts.icacompetitiveness bulls that confirm the positioning of the Sector among the national industrial excellences: the ability to penetrate international markets is even increasing, with the export share of turnover at 71,5%, while the coverage of the national market stands at 60,9%, XNUMX%, a contained and justifiable dropicadue to the strong restrictive measures adopted to contain the pandemic.
“2020 has put our Sector to the test,” commented the President of GIMAV, Eng. Michele Gusti, “Despite the pandemic waves that have hit the Sector with consequent lock-downs and border closures, the machinery manufacturing companies and Glass Processing Technologies have been able to react and contain losses as much as possible in a better way than their international competitors".
Flat Glass Processing Technologies were the most affected by the pandemic with turnover, exports and domestic deliveries remaining at lower values compared to 2019 for the whole of 2020 (except deliveries in November). However, the ability to both penetrate international markets and control the domestic market is increasing.
Best results ever for Hollow Glass Processing Technologies which in 2020 contained the loss of turnover to -8,9%, thanks to the positive performance of internal deliveries (+17,7%), resulting from the possibility of operating in derogation to the restrictions for the containment of the pandemic as part of the supply chain considered strategicica for the national interest; this helped offset the -15% exports. The sector improves its coverage of the internal market, while its international competitiveness decreases.
The Accessories and Other Technologies for Glass Processing sector manages to contain the decline in turnover, exports and deliveries on the domestic market to within 10%. The international competitiveness of the sector is essentially stable, although its ability to control the internal market is improving.
THE "CASE 2020"
From the detailed analysis carried out by the GIMAV Study Center, the first effects of the global pandemic can be seen in March, when the Glass Processing Machinery and Technologies Sector recorded a drop in turnover of 2,9% on the previous month instead of growing according to the seasonality (+29,5% in 2019).
The dramatic nature of the emergency was even more evident in April when the emergency measures adopted by the authorities following the so-called "first wave" effectively prevented normal company activity with a consequent collapse in exports compared to April 2019 (-57,3, 45,6%), of internal deliveries (-53,6%) and, therefore, of the entire turnover (-XNUMX%).
The following two months, also thanks to the first reopenings, were characterized by a "technical rebound" which started the process of reducing the gap which continued until November, when, net of the "lost ground" in the previous months, the turnover exceeded that of 2019 for the first time in absolute value. However, the advent of the so-called "second wave" in December slowed down the recovery, perhaps obscuring the real positive data, namely the ability of the entrepreneurial fabric of the sector to react and resist in a highly adverse context for the domestic economyica and even more so for international trade. The macro family of Flat Glass Processing Technologies was undoubtedly the most affected by the effects of the pandemic, with exports suffering from difficulties in the movement of goods and the movement of people at an international level and deliveries on the domestic market slowed down measures to contain the pandemic. Turnovers recorded at lower values than 2019 in all months of 2020 highlight how the sector was more significantly affected by the "second wave".
The Accessories and Other Technologies for Glass Processing sector was characterized by similar performances to that of the Sector in the first part of the year, with August, however, it reached values very close to those of the previous year, with November and December higher than in 2019, demonstrating how, in this case, the sector was not affected by the so-called second wave.
The hollow glass sector was also heavily affected by the collapse in international demand from March to August. Starting from September, however, exports resumed at their usual pace and the turnover remained stable at values higher than those of the previous year, managing, thanks also to the contribution that deliveries on the domestic market continued to provide, to cope with to the demands of food and pharmaceuticals, to also withstand the "second wave" of the pandemic.
FORECASTS 2021
The negative performances of December 2020 eased already in January 2021, recovering in February thanks to the good result of internal deliveries and a partial recovery in exports, consolidating in March with the full recovery of exports.
Projecting the results of the first quarter to December 2021 - without considering any changes that could occur by the end of the year and positively or negatively impact the activity of companies in the sector - turnover is expected to grow by 4,5%, therefore at still low levels, characterized by the good performance of Accessories and Other Technologies for Glass Processing, by a substantial stability of Flat Glass compared to 2020, and by a negative result for Hollow Glass, conditioned by exports which have not yet taken off.
It should, however, be borne in mind that the forecast does not take into consideration the results of the second quarter - not yet available to date and during which the international situation has partially normalized also thanks to the consolidation of the anti-Covid-19 vaccination campaign - and, fact, it projects exclusively the results of a period still influenced by the so-called "second wave". It is therefore presumable that the 2021 result could be better than expected and, indeed, considering the reduction in infections and the vaccination engine which continues at full capacity, it could approach 2019 levels as clarified by the GIMAV Director, Dr. Fabrizio Cattaneo: “The data speaks clearly: 2020 was a difficult year for everyone and, consequently, also for the manufacturers of glass processing machinery and technologies. Our sector, however, can look to 2021 with optimism, given the encouraging data from the first quarter. Projecting the little data already available, we presented modest growth forecasts but being well aware that the method contained an intrinsic underestimation, even a significant one. Nonetheless, considering the exceptional nature of the period we are experiencing and which we have not yet definitively put behind us, it seemed more prudent to offer an approximate estimate by default, possibly to be revised upwards in the future, rather than proposing a more optimistic forecast.ica to be then corrected downwards.”
The clear recovery trend is also confirmed by the optimism surrounding VITRUM 2021, whose numbers for the next edition are confirmed as positive. “We said it in the middle of the pandemic and I reiterated itadiI still love: VITRUM 2021 will be the recovery fair for the sector not only for producers, but also for users of glass processing machinery, with an eye on the end user through the collateral event GLASS WEEK” – he states the President of VITRUM, as well as President of the Accessories and Other Technologies for Glass Processing Section, Eng. Dino Zandonella Necca – “Milan from 5 to 8 October will be the stage from which we will talk about glass at 360° and we are working to ensure that it is a great event for everyone!”
APPOINTMENT OF THE BOARD OF PROBIVIRES AND OF THE SOLE AUDITOR
During the GIMAV General Assembly, following the approval of the statutory changes necessary to provide the Association with suitable and adequate tools for a modern entrepreneurial representation system, the Arbitrators who will make up the Board for the four-year period 2021 were appointed – 2025. The following were elected: Mr. Adelio Lattuada (ADELIO LATTUADA Srl), Dr. Roberta Triulzi (TRIULZI CESARE SPECIAL EQUIPMENT Srl), Eng. Sergio Valsecchi (BAVELLONI SpA), Eng. Andrea Zafferani (ZAFFERANI GLAS Srl) and the lawyers Giuseppe F. Bonacci and Edoardo Tosetto (LEGALI RIUNITI LEX). At the same time, Rag. Clara Alberta Tenconi (STUDIO TENCONI) has been elected GIMAV Sole Auditor for the four-year period 2021 – 2025.
