Koldo Arandia, Chairman of the AFM: “Although we are certain that the worst is now over as far as the demand for machine tools is concerned, we are still going to have a very tough six months, probably the toughest ever, until the very slight reactivation in demand we are detecting is consolidated and can materialise in terms of industrial activity.

In this situation it is essential for companies to be able to get funding to enable them to maintain their structure and activity, and take on new projects and orders”.

The 762.5 million euros of machine tool production in 2009 was 27.8% down on the figure of 1.06 billion euros posted by the sector in 2008 and is the lowest figure for the sector in the last ten years. What shows how hard the crisis has hit demand worldwide is that you have to go back to the fateful years of the early nineties to find anything similar.

Although they have also been hit hard, exports have stood up somewhat better, close to the levels posted in 2006. To be precise, sales abroad accounted for 575.2 million euros, which is 21.8% down on the 736 million euros exported in 2008. The high level of globalisation in the sector, a distinguishing feature of machine tool manufacturers, has become a key element in sustaining them. The coverage ratio of exports in relation to imports has risen to a striking 267.4%. In 2009, more than 75% of machine tool production was for the export market.

Arandia: “This fact, in spite of the dramatic fall in demand in general, shows that our products are internationally competitive”.

If we carry out a geographical analysis of the countries our exports go to we see that Germany continues to lead the ranking (25% of the total). France and Italy, in second and third places respectively, have suffered significant drops; especially Italy, which accounted for 20% in 2008 and last year barely reached 8%. India stands out, maintaining the 2008 figures, which takes it up to fourth place and China remains in fifth position although it dropped slightly. The biggest increase was in the Russian market which rose to sixth place in the ranking. Next come Portugal, Mexico, Brazil and the United Kingdom to complete our top ten in terms of exports. Arandia: “We expect that internationally the European and North American markets will only show timid signs of recovery, and that it will be the BRIC countries, headed by China and India, which will strongly drive industrial demand. The challenge is to continue taking positions in these countries so that we can benefit from their consumption rates. We therefore need to redouble our efforts in commercial terms mobilising substantial resources”.

Importing has gone down quite significantly, falling by 54.5%. The figure went from 473.3 million euros imported in 2008 to 215 million euros in 2009.

Apparent consumption (production plus imports minus exports) performed in a similar way, falling by 49.3%. The weakness of the domestic market is something that we have seen year after year and which worsened in 2009. There are hardly any positive signs in the domestic market, which means that any recovery will be even more complicated and slower than that in exports. It should however be remembered that, in spite of its terrible performance over the last few years, Spain is still our top market.

The sector has been systematically banking on globalisation and investment in technological innovation to drive competitiveness, and hopes that the slight positive signs that are starting to be detected mark the road to recovery. Arandia: “Whilst the improvement is not solid enough, it is important to come up with measures to enable companies to get through the period of low activity they will have to suffer. The sector will do its homework, but we need the same, committed government support that we have had up to now. It is time to work side by side, supporting innovation, globalisation, training and maintaining workforces and activity. As always the sector will know how to pay back this support hundredfold by generating wealth and knowledge for industry as a whole. We are an essential part of any economy that wants to call itself sustainable”.

In addition to thanking the Basque Government for their support for what is the ninth biggest manufacturer and exporter in the world through the so-called Scrappage Scheme for machine tools, the Chairman of the AFM requests “the extension of this type of initiative to the Spanish market as a whole because of the two-fold beneficial effect for industry in general and machine tool manufacturers in particular”.

The 26th edition of the BIEMH, the Biennial Spanish Machine Tool Fair, will probably coincide with a situation of gradual recovery, and industry needs to take advantage to improve its production equipment and competitiveness. Four months away from it being held in Bilbao (from 31 May to 5 June), more than 800 companies have confirmed their participation as exhibitors and more than 20,000 professionals have shown their interest in visiting what is the main industrial event in our country. Koldo Arandia is encouraging buyers to attend the fair and update their equipment in order to manufacture at better cost and with higher productivity.

Fuente: www.afm.es