WoodmacChina

The tenth edition of WoodmacChina – organized by China international exhibitions (All World) and Deutsche Messe and supported by Eumabois – was held in February 17-20. The exhibition took place simultaneously with WoodBuild China, dedicated to lumber, veneers and wood products for the building industry – and FurniTek – focusing on furniture components and accessories.
An exhibition surface of 28 thousand gross square meters, 406 participants and 13,600 visitors. These are the figures provided by the organizers: there were 19 Italian companies among exhibitors.
According to the opinions expressed by participants and considering also the negative economic situation, the exhibition trend was less negative than expected. Up to now the dimension of the domestic market of furniture and semifinished products has “buffered” the collapse of export – which has led many furniture manufacturers to bankruptcy especially those in the Guandong area addressing to the Usa. The crisis however has a significant influence and it might be worsening during the following months.
The presence of local manufacturers (about 200) proved that there has been significant industrial growth also in our industry.
According to the estimates provided by Ice – the Italian foreign trade institute – in 2007 the Chinese industry of woodworking machines was represented by more than one thousand manufacturers, with a turnover of 2,100 million dollars and a 26 percent growth over the past year. Export reached 720 million dollars, import accounted for 850 million dollars for a total market of 2,230 million dollars, with a 38 percent import quota.
As to Italian machinery export towards China, the latest Istat figures available (period January-November 2008) show a value of 35.7 million euros. (d.c.)