Decrease the export, stable the importations.[Ritorno a capo del testo]Expectations remains negative for 2020
In the first semester of 2020, 8,897 construction equipment has been sold in the Italian market, with a drop of 19% compared to the same period in 2019. In deeper details, earth moving machines sold were 5,561 (-20%), while 246 were the road machineries (+6%). This is what emerges from the last market survey carried out by Unacea, the association who represent the productive and commercial sector of Italian construction equipment industry.
On the other hand, comparing the second quarter 2020 to the same period of 2019 – therefore including the lockdown period imposed due to the emergence of Covid-19 – the Italian market recorded a loss of 23%. Indeed, between march and June 2020, 3,055 earth moving machines sold are 3,055, down 24% y-o-y, while the road machines sector maintain a slight growth of 3%, with 159 units sold.
Even more significant the decline of exportations which from January to April 2020 reached €367 millions, with a drop of 32% on year basis. According to the last Foreign Trade Report Unacea-CER published in July, the contraction of export has been recorded in all the segments of the industry: road machines (-48%), drilling equipment (-41%), earth-moving machines (-36%), concrete equipment (-34%), tower cranes (-33%) and crushing and screening equipment (-13%). Stable the import (+1%), while the trade balance recorded a loss of 48% y-o-y, even maintaining a surplus of €333 million.
Finally, looking at the results of an expectations survey conducted by Unacea among the Italian companies of construction equipment, the 96% of the sample forecast a loss at the end of 2020. However, only the 9% of the sample estimates losses over 30%, while the 57% of the sample expect a drop up to 20%. Also the Cece Business Barometer – the monthly European sentiment survey – achieve similar results. More than half of the participants expect a decline between 10 and 30%, while the 25% of the sample expect losses of no more than 10%.
