The Ice-Acimall “Sistema Italia”  in Minsk

According to the 2007 promotion program, Acimall (www.acimall.com), the association of Italian manufacturers of woodworking machinery, took part in the 14th Woodworking-Derevoobrabotka in Minsk, the capital of Belarus, from 18 to 21 September.

A promotion and information booth was offered by the fair organizers thanks to a barter deal.

This was the third time the association participates in this exhibition. In 2006, in collaboration with ICE, a small pavilion was installed with the “Sistema Italia” formula (information booths).

This annual show is the only significant event in Belarus for the woodworking industry, held inside the covered football stadium “Futbol’nyj Manezh”, a recent construction that is more suitable to host the exhibition than the nearby obsolete exhibition center.

The show is very compact: about 1,500 square meters, half the size of the football ground, plus a small outdoor area for forestry.

All major agents-importers were present, both Belarus companies and subsidiaries of foreign corporations.

Wider than in the previous editions, the technological offer was mainly concentrated in the Koimpex, Weinigbel (Weinig group company), Negoziant Engineering (Scm Group), Lintera (Homag) and Esa booths.

Visitors were exclusively from inside the country, with about 2,000 people in four days.

Rich in raw materials, Belarus has been recording substantial growth in the import of woodworking machinery and tools over the past five years. Like all markets based on central planning policies, however, it is subject to abrupt variations and trend reversals. This depends on the availability of financial resources deployed directly by the State, which controls the few big industries and ensures all major plant orders.

In 2006, Italy supplied technology for 8.7 million Euros (+76.7 percent) and became the major supplier before Austria with 6.3 million Euros (+177.6 percent) and Germany, which instead reduced export by 15.2 percent, stopping at 5.4 million Euros.

As evidence of fluctuating demand in Belarus, 2007 is not repeating the brilliant trend of 2006 for Italian woodworking machinery manufacturers. In the first semester, Italian export amounted to 2.9 million Euros, down by 16.4 percent over the same period of last year.