The last few months have been difficult times for the techno-stone industry but 2008 data suggests that although the crisis is evident is has not hit us as hard as in other sectors.

Flavio Marabelli, President of Confindustria Marmomacchine, the confederation of industry organisation representing 330 companies in the machinery and stone sector which last March signed an outline collaboration agreement with VeronaFiere, the organiser of Marmomacc, comments on the situation: "The world techno-stone industry is tackling the most complex moment in a crisis that first appeared in 2008, while 2009 is still revealing the hardships of this recession - although, in any case, our companies still rank among the `peaks of excellence` in Italian industry."The Italian value chain still boasts leadership all over the world and for now has only been scratched by the crisis: last year, machinery exports came to 826 million euro against 851 in 2007.

"Starting from final 2008 export data for processing machines and equipment, in short, we have seen a decrease in value of 2.87," says Marabelli, "that clearly indicates the initial statistical evidence of the crisis. However, the field is substantially holding up well if compared to other similar industrial sectors in terms of dimensions and overall numbers."

And it is also interesting to mention the main buyers of Italian machines in 2008. "India overtook the United States to take top position among buyers of Italian technologies," says the President of Marmomacchine, "and this confirms the timeliness of a special promotion project that precisely in 2009 will focus on this country. The project will be developed within the scope of collaboration with the Ministry for Economic Development and ICE."

Yet other countries, where promotion has been launched in recent years, are also significant markets: "I refer in particular to countries such as Russia, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and China," the President adds, "where percentage growth for imports of Italian stone processing machines on the one hand confirm the correct selection of target countries in recent years and, on the other, rewards, through export figures, the effectiveness of the training and promotional tools implemented."

Results in the field of marble, granite and decorative stone in general were also down: we exported 2.7 million tonnes of processed materials, compared to 2.9 millions in 2007, worth 1 billion 480 million euro, against 1 billion 580 millions in the previous year: "The overall export quantities ni 2008 posted -6.9% in terms of value and -5.3% in terms of volume, unfortunately confirming that exports of our are dropping and equally involve increasingly lower prices so that profit margins are tighter than ever. These unfavourable results are also joined by a drop in imports of stone materials into Italy," says Marabelli, "On the one hand, this is an index of poor consumption on the domestic market and, on the other, highlights a decrease in imports of unprocessed products that in terms means lower quantities of products processed in Italy, with a significantly negative impact on the industry and the districts with a strong vocation in this field in Italy."

Marabelli concludes with forecasts for the immediate future of the sector: “In this very hard start to 2009, our companies have to tackle a market situation on a global scale that is still complex and with unforeseeable developments. While 2008 closed with a limited fall in exports, thanks especially to a positive first half-year that mediated the significantly negative result posted in the second six months of the year, initial forecast data for 2009 processed by the Confindustria Marmomacchine Study Centre unfortunately suggest a two-figure fall for our exports of stone technologies, a clear symptom of the act that we are in the middle of the hardest period of the crisis. Inasmuch, 2009 will probably be a seriously poor year, given the unfavourable market conditions mentioned above and as regards medium-term macro-economic prospects, which by no means exclude the risks of a domino effect in a crisis that shows no signs of coming to an end and which, if its duration is excessively extended over time, could well be extremely difficult to manage for many companies. In this market scenario, Confindustria Marmomacchine will in any case ensure for its Italian member companies every possible effort to tackle the pressing challenges of 2009.