Acimga and ICE Survey US Opportunities
- Published: March 22, 2016
MILAN, ITALY | A new survey from Acimga and ICE (International Converting Exhibition) provides a snapshot of growth opportunities in the US. According to the survey, the Italian industry of printing and converting machinery can still grow in the US, already the sector’s largest export market, with 37% of US users (manufacturers of flexible packaging material, print professionals, converters, manufacturers of rigid and corrugated packaging) planning to make investments within the next two years—mainly in flexo printing technology—to integrate or renovate a machinery pool that for 46% of them is ten years old or more. 
The objective of the survey was to investigate barriers and opportunities for Italian manufacturers of printing and converting machinery on what is the leading destination market for Italian exports in the industry. According to Acimga data, in 2014 exports reached a total value of €172.5 million (equal to 11% of total exports), up by 12.6% compared to 2013.
The results of the survey show that 12% of all installed machinery in the US today is made in Italy (against 60% made in the US and 23% made in Germany) with Uteco as the first Italian brand in the ranking; other top-ranking companies include the Mark Andy with 20% and Windmoeller & Hoelscher with 8.6%.
The research was performed by means of phone interviews between September and November 2015 and involved more than 5,000 industry professionals (members of the Flexible Packaging Association, a selection of brokers associated to the magazine Packaging World, and drawing from a database of the most representative food processing companies with revenues ranging between $2 million and $100 million).
Most widely employed materials include paper and plastic film (over 60%) followed by rigid plastic (26%) and corrugated cardboard (13%). Machine types see a major prevalence of flexo machines (70%) followed by digital printing machines (28%) and converting machines (24%); the total exceeds 100 as the question allowed for multiple answers.
Three respondents out of four will purchase flexo printing machinery within the next two years, while others will go for digital technology, the primary focus being price (priority in 30% of answers), quality (22%), and technology (19%).
Smaller companies with revenues below $10 million have the oldest installations, 70% of which are aged over ten years; these show high propensity (56% of favorable answers) to make new investments in the next two years.
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