BALKANS: FIERAGRICOLA AS A STRATEGIC HUB FOR EXPORTS RECOVERY ON THE AGRICULTURAL MACHINERY MARKET

 

On the eve of the international agricultural exhibition at VeronaFiere 2-5 February (www.fieragricola.it)

 

After the downturn in 2009, Italian exports of agricultural machinery to Slovenia, Serbia, Croatia and Bosnia-Herzegovina have started to grow again: the market is worth 62 million euros and over the next 3-5 years may well double current levels. Giovanni Mantovani, CEO of VeronaFiere: "Fieragricola plays a strategic role, given its ideal geographical position between Italian production areas and the Balkans and Central-Eastern Europe."

 

Verona, 30 January 2012.   The Balkans are waking up and are resuming imports of Italian agricultural machinery. Data processed by FederUnacoma (the Federation of agricultural machinery manufacturers belonging to Confindustria) on the basis of ISTAT figures suggest that 2011 saw a recovery in Italian exports to this area. In the period January-September 2011 - as highlighted in the information analysed by the association chaired by Massimo Goldoni for Fieragricola (scheduled at VeronaFiere next 2-5 February, www.fieragricola.it) - exports of Italian agricultural machinery and tractors to Slovenia, Serbia, Croatia and Bosnia-Herzegovina came to 62 million euros, a net increase compared to the same period 2010. The Balkans ranking is headed by Slovenia, with 30.1 million euros (+9.9% compared to the same period 2010), followed by Croatia (18.6 million euros, +35.8%), Serbia (10.7 million euros, +39.1% over January-September 2010) and Bosnia-Herzegovina (2.5 million euros, +27.8%).

In absolute terms, sales in the former Jugoslavia take 2% of the total Italian exports of tractors and agricultural machinery coming, as of September 2011, to more than 3 billion euros overall.

The peak for Italian exports to the Balkans was achieved in 2008, with an overall value of almost 127 million euros. Over the next 3-5 years, thanks not the least to recent developments concerning the referendum that will bring Croatia into the European Union, exports of Italian agricultural machinery and tractors may – as estimated by the Fieragricola Observatory – grow substantially even to the point of doubling current.

"In this scenario," said the CEO & Director General of Veronafere, Giovanni Mantovani, "Fieragricola plays a strategic role, thanks to its geographical position, as the ideal hub between agro-engineering production districts and the Balkans and Central-Eastern Europe."

 

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