Extrusion International USA 4-2022

13 Extrusion International 4/2022 • Fabiola Plebani (MAST) • Barbara Ulcelli (IMG) • Corrado Zanga (UNILOY ITALIA). In his address, President Dario Previero illustrated the performance of the Italian industry of plastics and rubber processing machinery, commenting on the results of the second edition of the National Statistics Study by the MECS- Amaplast Statistical Study Centre on 400 manufacturers (with 13,900 employees) who generated revenues of over 4 billion euros in 2021, a twelve percent increase over 2020 with a 72% share going to exports. Previero went on to confirm the effectiveness of syn - ergy with ACIMAC (Association of Italian Manufacturers of Machinery and Equipment for Ceramics) and UCIMA (Italian Packaging Machinery Manufacturers Association), which has made it possible to share and make available a series of increasingly up-to-date and customized services to member companies, supporting them in their day-to- day operations. Sector data: The second National Statistics Study by the MECS-Ama- plast Statistical Study Centre produces a snapshot of some 400 Italian manufacturers of plastics and rubber process- ing machinery, equipment, and moulds, employing more than 13,900 people and generating revenues of over 4 bil- lion euros in 2021 (+12% over 2020). The average export ratio is 72%, with peaks of 82% for larger companies. And it is the companies in the category with turnover in excess of 50 million euros (less than 5% of the total) that made the greatest contribution to revenues (over 38% of overall revenues for the industry). As regards geography, most of the companies (approxi - mately 52%) are located in Lombardy, primarily in the provinces of Varese, Milan, and Brescia. Next in line are the regions of Emilia-Romagna with 15%, Veneto with 13%, and Piedmont with 9%. As regards the customer categories of machinery manu- facturers, packaging is again in first place, representing 41% of the total (27% food and 14% non-food), followed by automotive with 18%, and construction with 10%, just to mention the principal outlet markets. The medical seg- ment also bears mentioning: although it amounts to a rela- tively small percentage of the total (5%, one point higher than in 2020), it recorded a rather non-surprising 38% in - crease in revenues for machinery suppliers. In line with the results of the previous survey, among the macro-categories of machinery, extruders again represent- ed the lion’s share of overall production, with 19% of the total. They are followed by auxiliaries with 14%, injection moulding machines at 11%, and moulds/dies for plastic at just under 8%. The 2021 results are complemented by the indicators for the first quarter of 2022, which describe a continuing posi - tive trend: with respect to the same period in 2021, orders are up by 10%, revenues by 16%, exports by 13%, and im- ports by 9%. Expectations for the second quarter are also marked by a certain optimism, at least as regards orders, estimated to have increased further by 6-7%. Naturally, various unknowns and issues that follow upon one another and have now been overlapping for months generate no small concern among business owners, who remain cau- tiously optimist, expecting the balance to be positive again in 2022, but less brilliant than last year. AMAPLAST www.amaplast.org Acquisition  With the acquisition of the Ital- ian producer Auserpolimeri s.r.l. as of 29 July 2022, Brüggemann under- lines the company's ambitious ex- pansion strategy. “Auserpolimeri's chemically func- tionalised polyolefin-based polymers play a key role as impact modifiers, compatibilisers, coupling agents and adhesion promoters in improving the performance levels of engineer- ing plastics for a wide range of ap- plications. They ideally complement and complete our existing range of high-performance additives,” says Dr. Klaus Bergmann, Head of Poly- mer Additives at Brüggemann. Both Brüggemann and Auser- polimeri are established manufac- turers with proven expertise and long-standing international cus- tomer relationships and have grown strongly in recent years. Brüggemann Managing Director Dr. Stefan Lätsch emphasises that the Eigenmann & Veronelli Group has not only devel- oped the Auserpolimeri site near Lucca by investing in its facilities and personnel, but also expanded its extensive customer network to a global level. Auserpolimeri and Brüggemann are united not least by their focus on highly specialised applications in which agility, product knowledge and consulting strength are indis- pensable success factors, especially in application technology. Dr Stefan Lätsch comments: “We see the com- mitment to uncompromising quality assurance and to constant innovation as a significant common denomina- tor. We welcome our new and highly qualified colleagues to our business and are looking forward to further growing our activities together. Customers of both companies will benefit from the close cooperation between sales, R&D, application technology and production – in the future, we will be able to offer cus- tomers even more differentiated market and product solutions.“ Overall, Brüggemann is growing to more than 300 employees and sales of 210 million EUR/year. L. Brüggemann GmbH & Co. KG www.brueggemann.com