Appeal to Bonaccini: Don’t shut down manufacturing

Modena, 3 November 2020 – “We urgently request that no measures be taken that would result in the stoppage or slowdown of production activities. This situation would cause our sector to lose important shares of the world market that simply cannot be offset by tax measures or concessions of any kind, which are only a temporary palliative against the loss of international competitiveness of Italian-made products.”

These are the closing lines of the letter sent a few hours ago by Acimac Chairman Paolo Mongardi to Stefano Bonaccini, President of the Emilia Romagna Regional Government and of the Conference of Italian Regions. The ceramic machinery manufacturers, represented by the Confindustria-affiliated association Acimac, have expressed their concern about current speculation regarding a potential new lockdown which would seriously harm the ceramic supply chain and the manufacturing industry in general.

“The slowdowns caused by last spring’s lockdown have not just reduced the current year’s revenues but have adversely affected our companies’ ability to retain their international market shares,” writes Mongardi.

“The next few weeks will also be crucial for concluding the final orders of the year and for delivering machines still in production (which in the past accounted for over 30% of the annual total) and above all for collecting orders for the first few months of next year. Given the complexity of the machines built by our companies, it takes weeks of work to produce them. In short, this is a strategically important time of the year,” continues the Chairman of Acimac in his letter.

Moreover, the companies are now able to guarantee extremely safe working conditions thanks to the strict safety protocols drawn up in consultation with the social partners, and where possible they have adopted work-from-home measures to safeguard the health of employees.

The Italian ceramic machinery industry is made up of 142 companies employing 7,000 people and with a combined turnover of 1.7 billion euros. The industry is largely concentrated in the Emilia-Romagna region, where the presence of an extensive subcontracting chain effectively doubles the sector’s revenues. The sector is essential for the downstream ceramic industry, particularly the Sassuolo ceramic cluster with its 280 companies, more than 27,000 workers and a turnover in excess of 6 billion euros. Moreover, with its export share of more than 70%, it makes a significant contribution to maintaining Italy’s balance of trade.