Leading Italian textile machine makers exhibit at Colombiatex 2022

Members of ACIMIT (Association of Italian Manufacturers of Textile Machinery) such as Fadis, Flainox, Reggiani, Santoni, Savio, Smit, Sperotto Rimar, etc participated in the expo.

For the textile machinery industry 2022 opened with the resumption of physical trade shows. Colombiatex de las Américas, the main Colombian textile trade event, was the first physical show of 2022 which took place from January 25 to 27. And Italian textile machinery sector once again played a leading role in Colombia with a large presence. Nineteen Italian textile machinery manufacturers exhibited in the exhibition area organised by Italian Trade Agency and ACIMIT (Association of Italian Manufacturers of Textile Machinery).

ACIMIT member companies such as Bonino, Btsr, Color Service, Crosta, Fadis, Flainox, Kairos, Mactec, Mcs, Nexia, Ratti, Reggiani, Santoni, Savio, Smit, Sperotto Rimar and Tonello participated at the show.

“For years, the Colombian market has been one of the main South American destinations for Italian textile machinery exports. The development of a national fashion sector makes the demand for advanced textile technologies by Colombian companies even more dynamic,” said Alessandro Zucchi, President of ACIMIT, in a pre-event press release.

Italian exports to the important South American market in the first nine months of 2021 reached a value of Euro 9.3 million, in strong growth (over +130%), not only compared to the value recorded last year, but also to that of 2019. More than half of the demand for Italian machinery in Colombia refers to finishing machines.

The presence at Colombiatex of Italian companies with their own personnel was a further sign of confidence for the beginning of 2022. Alessandro Zucchi stated, “Compared to previous editions of the event, we note a greater number of Italian exhibitors, although the health emergency is far from over and there is great uncertainty characterising the world economic scenario (due to the considerable increase in the cost of raw materials and shipping, the scarcity of electronic components, etc.). The Italian companies exhibiting in Medellin testify to the optimism with which the entire Italian textile machinery industry is looking towards this 2022 year.”

Brexit has been a “lose-lose” deal for the textile industry

Latest trade data (January-September 2021) show a dramatic drop of imports and exports of textile goods between the EU and UK, with significant losses for companies on both sides. The situation is likely to get worse, as the full customs regime between UK and EU has entered into force on 1 January 2022. EURATEX calls on the European Union and the United Kingdom to effectively cooperate to remove the issues in the EU-UK Trade agreement that prevent smooth trade flows. 

All the sectors have been already suffering a significant loss in the past year and textiles has been no exception. Compared to the same period in 2020, between January and September the EU recorded a dramatic fall in imports (-44%, corresponding to almost Euro 2 billion) and in exports (-22%, corresponding to € 1.6 billion). The data show that the most impacted EU countries on the export side are Italy, Netherlands, Belgium and Germany while on the import side the most impacted countries are Germany, Ireland and France. Among the T&C sectors, clothing articles are facing the most severe drop in both imports and exports, corresponding to a total trade loss of more than Euro 3.4 billion over the 9 months period. Despite these alarming figures, the UK continues to be the most important export market for EU textiles and clothing.

Since 1 January, full customs controls are being implemented. It means that export and import rules have become stricter: products should already have a valid declaration in place and have received customs clearance. Export from Britain to the EU must now have supplier declarations and the commodities codes changed.