Acimit
Now is the time for the Italian textile machinery industry to make some decisions

The Italian textile machinery industry is floundering in an economic situation which is still difficult. To take on the new challenges posed by the markets, the Italian textile machinery companies must make certain clear and urgent decisions. This is the message which Alberto M. Sacchi, the Chairman of ACIMIT, the Association of Italian Textile Machinery Manufacturers, transmitted during the Annual General Meeting of the Association, held in Milan.

Alberto M. Sacchi, the Chairman of ACIMIT

While presenting the figures for the sector which had turnover of 3,200 million Euros in 2003, 75% (approximately 2,400 million Euros) of which came from foreign markets, Sacchi confirmed that the past year was one of the most difficult yet for the sector. The fall-off in turnover compared to 2002 was 7%. This result is due to the considerable fall-off in deliveries within the Italian market (-22%) while foreign demand also fell off, albeit by less (-2%). Within the industry, the various sectors fared differently, the common feature, however, being a substantial slowdown in production.
Growth in the foreign markets
One of the few success stories in 2003 in the foreign markets was in Turkey, where sales of Italian textile machines were worth 412 million Euros (+41% compared to the previous year). Turkey, thereby, surpassed China as the main destination for our exports. The Chinese market, in fact, saw a fall-off in Italian sales (-11%, with a value of 396 million Euros). We are comforted somewhat by the resistance of certain Asian markets (Japan, India, Pakistan) and Eastern European markets. Asia is still the geographical area which accounts for the largest share of our exports (38% of the total in 2003). The Euro area countries and United States countries are still well behind: here, the recovery in textile investments is slow.
Sacchi emphasised how the ability to restore competitiveness depends to a very large extent on management factors relating to the individual company strategies. "We must”, the ACIMIT Chairman said, “make certain clear and urgent decisions in relation to the management of the company, the organisation and the role of property within the companies. It is also fundamental that businessmen manage to stimulate growth within the business culture in order to fully understand, and then tackle, the indispensable changes which must be made as a basic step on the road to renewed competition and not as a threat to the positions already acquired".

Speakers st Annual General
Meeting of the Association

This decisional process also requires careful and thorough analysis of fundamental issues such as innovation, human resources and increases in company size. Analysis which must also involve those who support the internationalisation of the companies. The Association, therefore, is asking banks and credit institutes to support this decisional process so that "creating a system" is not just an empty expression but takes on a concrete shape.
The presence of the Italian textile machinery companies in the international markets, to which they export 75% of their production, must become more structured and widespread, also in areas which are extremely remote and difficult to cover. According to ACIMIT, it is necessary, therefore, that the entire Italian system helps the Italian producers to penetrate and remain in the emerging markets, protecting them at the same time against the risks of unfair competition. If the new challenges demand that we focus on increasing the size of the companies, we must remove the causes behind the reluctance to restructure the businesses.
Small- & medium Enterprises
Increasing the size of the companies was also at the heart of the public session of the ACIMIT General Meeting dedicated to the theme "Small- and medium-sized enterprises: the new challenges and the Chinese case".
This debate also involved Miro Radici, Chairman of the Itema Group, the largest Italian textile machinery group, and Alcide Luini, Secretary General of the Italy-China.