WorldWide Drilling Resource

Construction Machinery and Equipment Import-Export Report Adapted from Information by Samoter Foreign trade in construction machinery and equipment held up in the first six months of 2015, confirming a positive balance of trade for Italian industry, posting substantial stability (+0.1%) com- pared to the same period in the previous year. Exports of earth-moving machinery and equipment, road machinery, concrete plant, tower cranes, aggregate preparation ma- chinery, and drilling machinery in the period January-June was up by 5.9% compared to the first six months of 2014. Sales to Russia fell vertically (-63.3%), following the Ukraine crisis sanctions, as well as the devaluation of the rouble. These are the initial data released by the SaMoTer-Verona Observatory on the construction equipment market developed in collaboration with Prometeia. The Bologna-based company is a leader in consulting services, software, and economic research with more than 500 professionals in five countries worldwide. In September, a three-year agreement with Veronafiere was signed to provide stakeholders (exhibitors, operators, visitors, etc.) in SaMoTer, the landmark international trade fair for the sector, with tools analyzing current and future scenarios in the sector. The Observatory - in cooperation with UNACEA (Italian construction equipment association) - assures SaMoTer even more status as a landmark for market information and market intelligence. The agreement between Veronafiere-SaMoTer and Prometeia will be presented in detail and will provide information on three levels: a foreign trade monitor with monthly import-export updates; building industry monitor with quarterly updates on construction market trends in Italy; as well as an annual update report on the world market for earth-moving machinery. Trends on world markets in the six sectors covered by SaMoTer are rather different. In particular, exports of earth-moving ma- chinery and equipment increased between January and June by 8.3% over the same period in 2014, while imports leapt by 38.1%. There was a two-figure performance for exports of road-building machinery, up by 14.7%, while imports grew 11.2%. There was a slight downturn for concrete machinery: export sales fell 3.3%; and imports performed even worse, down by 24.4% in the period January-June 2015. Tower cranes posted a positive result with an increase of 28% in foreign sales and imports posted a similar trend, up 250.6%. On the other hand, exports of aggregate preparation machinery dropped 2.1%, while imports increased by 26%. Drilling machinery saw international sales grow by 4.9%, while imports fell 42.3% in the first six months of 2015 compared to the same period in 2014. Western Europe is still one of the key markets for construction machinery in some of the six sectors covered by SaMoTer, up by 6.9% in the first six months of 2015 compared to the same period in 2014. Good improvements in sales were seen in the Middle East which increased 13.8%, Asia by 39.6%, North America 31.5%, and Africa with a 7.4% growth, confirming its position as the second re- gional area for Italian exports in value terms. There was also good growth in Oceania, with a 9.2% increase. Exports in Turkey and Central-Eastern Europe were stable in the first six months of 2015 compared to the same period in 2014, as was also the case for Central and Southern America at 0.9%. Imports between January and June from Western Europe rose by 30.2%, by 36.6% from Asia, 10.2% North America, 84.9% from Central-Eastern Europe and Turkey, while imports from other countries in Europe, Central-South America, and Oceania remained minor. Imports from Africa dropped 44.5%. 49 WorldWide Drilling Resource ® JANUARY 2016