Organisers of the Xylexpo timber and furniture industry machinery show say 43,295 visitors attended last week’s event in Milan.
ACIMALL (the Italian woodworking machinery and tools manufacturers’ association) said the result was up on expectations but 15.9% down from the last show in 2010.
The May 8-12 event saw 515 exhibitors spread over 32,178 net m² of space in four halls (2010: 42,500m²).
ACIMALL said the event was a “truthful mirror” of the current situation facing the Italian woodworking sector – orders for Italian woodworking machinery fell 4.6% in the first quarter.
But it maintained that the quality of visitors made up for the reduction in overall numbers.
It said the market situation was also reflected in the pulling power of the various sectors covered, with the atmoshere more positive in panel processing technology halls than solid wood and primary processing halls.
“It is hard to make significant investments and long-term plans in periods of heavy stagnation like the current one,” said Acimall.
“In this period, the drivers of our business, such as the construction industry, are virtually paralysed in Europe, so the problem was not the exhibition itself, but the impact of weak demand.”
International visitors made up 47% of total attendance, with France, Turkey, Switzerland and Russia the top countries. Turkish visitors were up by 46.5%.
A full report on Xylexpo will follow in the next issue of TTJ.
