2024-03-28 16:15:53
BOLZANO. The spring edition of Barometer of the economy of the IRE – Economic Research Institute of the Bolzano Chamber of Commerce photographs an improvement in ratings on the profitability expressed by South Tyrolean manufacturing companies compared to the previous autumn survey.
The newfound confidence it also depends on the good performance of exports in the last quarter of 2023. Companies in the South Tyrolean manufacturing sector are revising their opinions on the 2023 financial year upwards, with profitability being considered at least satisfactory by almost nine out of ten operators.
After a slowdown in the spring and summer, the dynamics of turnover recovered in the last months of the year, in particular for larger companies.
The data relating to foreign trade also confirm this the acceleration in the last quarter, in particular in the food sector and in the machinery and equipment sector. Overall, in 2023 the exports from Alto Adige (excluding agricultural products) were equal to over 6.2 billion euroswith an increase in real terms of approximately one percentage point compared to the previous year.
Pure l’occupation grew slightly, with the number of employed collaborators reaching an average of over 35,100 units, up 1.1 percent.
The prospects for 2024 are characterized by uncertainty related to the current weakness of the German economy. The degree of utilization of production capacity should however remain at last year’s levels, around 86 percent, and a slight increase in turnover and a recovery in investment activity are expected.
Nine out of ten companies forecast for this year satisfactory profitability, also thanks to the slowdown in the dynamics of production costs. However, the prospects diverge significantly between the individual branches of activity. Particular optimism can be found in the food sector, where almost all companies are confident in an operating result that is at least satisfactory and often good. Expectations are mostly satisfactory also in the branches of production of machinery, equipment and components for vehicles, woodworking, building materials, clothing and printing.
The forecasts for the metalworking sector, however, are more heterogeneous, with over one in three companies confident in a really good profitability and a fifth of operators who, instead, foresee an unsatisfactory operating result.
The president of the Bolzano Chamber of Commerce, Michl Ebnerreiterates the importance of investments for the manufacturing sector: «Investing allows companies to become increasingly efficient, increasing productivity. This determines long-term competitiveness, including at an international level. For this reason it is necessary to support investments with adequate incentives, for example by guaranteeing loans at a subsidized rate.”
2024-03-28 16:15:53