Marco Vedani elected president of Assomet
The 74th General Assembly of the National Association of Non-Ferrous Metals Industries was held in the sign of the handover by Italo Amedeo Romano, now at the conclusion of his second presidential term, and the managing director of Intals Spa, Ing. Marco Vedani.
In his parting speech, the outgoing President said he was confident “to leave an association capable of proceeding towards increasingly ambitious goals representing an important manufacturing sector that sees Italy occupy a leading European role”.
In fact, the non-ferrous metals industrial supply chain in our country employs 25,000 people, with a consolidated 2018 turnover of 25.7 billion euros and almost two million tons of raw metals produced, including copper, aluminum, lead, zinc and precious metals. With regard to semi-finished products (rolled sections, bars and sections, pipes, wires, etc.), production reached 2.4 million tonnes last year, with a substantial export volume of almost 40%. The jets, on the other hand, reached 915,000 t. The contribution of scrap is increasingly relevant: for aluminum we are around 50% with over one million tons on a total use of 2,116,000 tons, while for copper the use of scrap is around 600,000 tons. . Lead and zinc are instead, respectively, at 250 thousand tons and 70 thousand tons.
Marco Vedani, having thanked those present for the trust given to him, underlined how he intends to proceed with the association commitment on the long-established established line, aiming however to take more into account the dynamics of each single sector represented by Assomet and implementing the actions of associative marketing in order to have the widest and most articulated base possible.
The presentations by Dr. Fabrizio Maronta (Limes-Italian Geopolitical Magazine) and Dr. Livio Romano of the CSC-Confindustria Studies Center were particularly appreciated by those present. The first presented a study entitled “The battle for the new world order” in which he highlighted the factors that contribute to determining the US-China opposition and the different territories on which this challenge is being played and will be played. Beginning with the US maritime dominance in all the oceans to move to the new silk roads and related economic corridors, continuing with the analysis of the countries that hold American credit (in particular China and Japan, which together reach over 30%) for to reach the current relations between Europe and Russia and the new iron curtain, the concrete presence of China in Europe (ports and maritime routes, financial centers, logistic centers), and the future scenario that in 2100 will see the world population reach 11 billion, of which 4.3 billion in Africa, almost four times the current population (and with other areas of the world in slight growth and Europe in decline).
With the report “Where the Italian industry is going in the difficult global context” Livio Romano explained the reasons (Brexit, election of Trump, US protectionism) for which the uncertainty in the world is currently at its maximum and how US duties can represent a danger for Italian exports. “The world is entering a new phase of development – said the representative of the Confindustria Study Center – the propensity to export is decreasing and the growth of manufacturing production is structurally slowing down”. The German locomotive has stopped racing and this is not good news for Italian industry if we consider that Germany is the first partner for Italy (12.5% of our exports) while domestic demand is sluggish.
“But – he concluded with a note of Roman optimism – in this scenario we are witnessing the reorganization of the Italian industry, with the quality of production constantly growing even if not in all the markets in the same way”. And, with regard to investments in 4.0 technologies, where the small and medium-sized manufacturing companies in the north prevailed, he added that in a global context that certainly does not help Italian companies are the choices of national economic policy to be fundamental to restore confidence and sustain competitiveness in the medium-long term.