Amaplast annual Member Assembly highlights

There is a new President at the Amaplast helm for the two-year term 2023-2025: Massimo Margaglione (Gefit spa), who was Vice President for the past 4 years and now receives the baton from Dario Previero. Also elected were the two Vice Presidents: Gabriele Caccia (Syncro srl) for a second term and Barbara Ulcelli (IMG srl) in her first term.

The new leadership was elected at the annual Member Assembly, which took place on Wednesday, 28 June 2023 at the Cà del Bosco winery in Erbusco (Brescia).

In additional to the elections, the Assembly was also the occasion for a broad overview of the sector represented by the association. In his talk, the departing president Dario Previero illustrated the performance of the Italian plastics and rubber processing machinery industry, commenting on the results of the third edition of the National Statistical Survey carried out by the MECS-Amaplast Statistical Studies Centre of 397 manufacturers (representing 14,447 employees) who generated revenues of 4.35 billion euros in 2022, for an impressive 8.1% gain over 2021 with 72.7% going to exports. This is the second best performance of all time, achieved in spite of the fact that the sector had to cope with numerous difficulties during the course of the year, such as limitations on exports to Russia, shortages of raw materials and components, and increases in energy costs, just to name a few. Some of these difficulties have yet to be fully resolved, but probably a constantly changing world situation is the new paradigm to which companies will have to adapt, carefully balancing due caution with a healthy willingness to take risks. And indeed, this is a mindset well represented in recent years by businesses in the sector, which have ably parried many of the economic repercussions of world events occurring during the pandemic and afterwards, always ready to continue moving forward with their eyes on the future.

Dario Previero then reaffirmed the efficacy of the inter-association synergy with Acimac (Association of Italian Manufacturers of Machinery and Equipment for Ceramics) and Ucima (Italian Packaging Machinery Manufacturers Association), which has provided associated companies an increasingly broad range of services to support them in their day-to-day operations. In particular, there is a new environmental service for the drafting of sustainability reports and consulting services to guide the implementation of best practices to reduce a company’s environmental impact. Furthermore, an intensive corporate accreditation project is underway with Ucima to promote the line of thinking of the Italian plastics and packaging industry, especially as regards the new European packaging directive (SUP), which favours reuse of packaging over recycling.

New president Massimo Margaglione laid out the guidelines of his presidency: “As newly elected president of Amaplast, I feel it is my duty first and foremost to choose continuity with the major initiatives undertaken by my predecessor. To this end I shall undertake to promote, support, and implement the spirit of collaboration that has taken form between Acimac, Ucima, and our association so that we can set up a federated body that strengthens our position within Confindustria.

The safeguarding of the interests of the plastics industry and its operating assets is now an unquestionable necessity and priority. We will have to work with governments, institutions, and national organizations in order to guide policies that are favourable to our goals and to counteract the negative perception of our industry, often and unfairly seen as responsible for the adverse environmental impacts that are all around us.

In addition to this, Amaplast will continue providing support services in order to inform and often also train its member companies on such sensitive and now inescapable issues as the sustainability and social responsibility of companies, ecological transition, the circular economy, the SUP Directive, and the upcoming amendments to the European packaging directive. It will also continue to be an informed and active agent assisting member companies in negotiating the shifting legislative maze and in facing the challenges posed by the market while also reaping the opportunities offered by the market.

“I would like to thank my predecessor, Dario Previero, for the exceptional work he has done over the years. I inherit from him a stronger, more dynamic association, one that plays a greater role in providing quality services to member companies, and unquestionably one that has gained in stature vis-à-vis our national institutions.”

The Assembly was followed by an interesting round table discussion addressing current issues for the industry – economic context, servitization, carbon neutrality – with Marco Fortis, Director and Vice President of Fondazione Edison, Marco Taisch, President of Made Competence Center Industria 4.0, and David Giraldi, Sustainability and Innovation Division Manager for Ambiente spa.

Industry figures

According to the results of the third edition of the National Statistical Survey conducted by the Mecs-Amaplast Statistical Studies Centre, the plastics and rubber processing technology industry closed the year 2022 with revenues of 4.35 billion euros, the second highest ever, for an 8.1% increase over 2021.

The main factor in this achievement was exports, which recorded a further upturn toward the end of the year and a total value exceeding the threshold of 3 billion euros (3.16 to be precise, +8.5% over 2021).

In detail, exports by Italian manufacturers – which represent 72.7% of total production – show sustained growth toward the main geographical zones: EU (+8%), North America (+6.6%), non-EU Europe (+8%), and the Far East (+9%).

As regards exported product categories, extrusion systems hold the lead, bringing in 20.8% of the entire Italian business volume (up 13.7% over 2021), followed by auxiliaries (13.7%), and injection machines (9.5%), with the remaining categories collectively amounting to 24.2%.

The domestic market grew by 6.8% with respect to 2021, with a business volume exceeding 1.18 billion euros.

The top 3 client sectors are packaging (40.6% of total revenues), automotive (15.9%) and construction (11%).

The year 2023 opened for the entire Western industrial complex in a relatively uncertain climate, both due to the fact that the post-Covid rebound was less pronounced than hoped and because of the continuing conflict in Ukraine. This situation is further compounded by rising interest rates and inflation, which have depressed global demand. However, there is a strong sense of optimism among manufacturers of plastics and rubber processing machinery, equipment, and moulds, well above the level suggested by economic indicators: 39% of interviewees expect further improvements in results for 2023, 43% expect stability, while only 18% expressed a pessimistic outlook.

Plast 2023

The plastics and rubber industry will be gathering at the Fiera Milano fairgrounds in Rho from 5 to 8 September: Plast, the international exhibition for plastics and rubber industries. Organized by Promaplast srl, Amaplast service company, the event focuses on plastics and rubber processing technologies and materials. Expectations are riding high for one of the keystone fairs with over 1,200 exhibitors, many of them appearing for the first time and approximately one third coming from other countries.

The international stature of the exhibition - taking place five years after the previous edition due to the delay inflicted by the pandemic - is further affirmed by the return of the Chinese and Iranian collectives, and the debut of their French counterpart.

There will also be a major presence of foreign delegations: 30 countries from all parts of the world have already registered for the incoming buyers programme, organized with the support of ICE-Agenzia.

Promaplast has also signed a synergy agreement with Ipack-Ima to boost promotion of Plast among operators in the packaging sector, one with close ties to the plastics industry, with close to 40% of demand coming from the packaging industry.

The three satellite fairs dedicated to three related sectors will be hosted again at the 2023 edition of Plast: 3D Plast (focusing on additive manufacturing and associated technologies), Rubber (as the name suggests), and Plast-Mat (dedicated to innovative polymers).

This year’s fair will feature a new layout with demo areas outfitted with operational production lines and spaces for company presentations. In parallel, The Innovation Alliance - a partnership between Plast, Ipack-Ima, Print4all, and Intralogistica Italia - proposes a new concept: in response to the upheaval in tradeshow calendars caused by the pandemic, the organizational teams are hard at work on a new interpretation of the initiative, with sub-events focusing on specific issues of current relevance in the various sectors, thus consolidating the message of a harmonious interoperating value chain.

The calendar of side events - conferences, workshops, and exhibitor press conferences - is still in the development phase but the organization team is working to offer visitors many significant novelties.