The May 16-20 show, organised by ACIMALL, (the Italian woodworking machinery and tools manufacturers association) saw visitor numbers grow by 7.1% on two years ago, with 48,008 coming from outside Italy. The event also boasted the biggest net exhibition area in the show’s history – 73,066m2.
The exhibition took place at the newly-completed Rho fairgrounds against a background of an improving Italian woodworking machinery sector.
SCM Group was the single largest exhibitor, covering 5,500m2, with SCM UK’s managing director Ian Brown describing business as “manic” two days into the show, though he thought there were few UK visitors.
Weinig, which manufactures solid timber processing machinery, reported upbeat first quarter results at Xylexpo following a disappointing 2005. The group recorded sales of €94.5m, compared to €78.9m a year ago.
The company said growing use of laminated beams in the construction industry had helped demand for its finger-jointing technology expand beyond expectations.
Biesse’s launches at Xylexpo included a new loading/unloading table for its flagship Uniwin processing centre. Other first appearances in Milan included the Akron 855 edegbander and the Regal 500 sander, featuring a cross belt pre-sanding unit.
The adjoining SASMIL exhibition covered 8,116m2 – less than half the size of the 2004 event.
Xylexpo’s conference programme included “Wood for a Better World”: The Contribution of Forests to the Goals of Kyoto and Montreal, featuring presentations from the Forest Stewardship Council, Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification schemes, several universities and SCM Group managing director Adriano Celi.
