Assocomaplast, Italy's machine and molds manufacturers association, is urging the country to look beyond its successful export business.
Assocomaplast Chairman Giorgio Colombo, who is in the last year of his five-year term in the role, said during Plast 2015 in Milan that solely exporting is “not sustainable” for the future of the Italian plastics market.
Italy is a leading player in the global plastic market, but figures produced by Eurostat, which provides statistical information to the European Union, revealed that Italian manufacturing sales have fallen sharply since 2011, lagging well behind European neighbors France and Germany.
Filippo Bettini, the chairman of Italy's plastic and rubber association added that polymer production also needs to improve in the country, as key business has migrated away.
This year's Plast 2015 runs through May 8. The last Plast show in 2012 had 1,514 exhibitors across 56,832 square meters.