The spinningmachines sector is a strategic market segment which plays an instrumental rolefor the realization of a textile product of high quality level. The excellenceof the Italian machine sector makes spinning machines made in Italy highly competitive at international level and offers to the various applicationfields a technology capable of meeting the most exacting requirements.

In 2005 thissegment accounted for about 25% of the Italian production of textile machines(for a value of Euro 635 million). Over 83% of the turnover (about Euro 524million in 2005) is achieved on foreign markets.

In the firsthalf of 2006 exports amounted to Euro 250 million. Asia is the main destinationof the spinning machines produced in Italy (52% of exports of Italianmanufacturers). China is by far the main export market, with a share of 22% ontotal export sales. Other markets where the Italian manufacturers of thissector hold an interesting share are India (10%) and Poland (6%).

EXPORT OF ITALIAN SPINNING MACHINERY BY AREAS FIRSTHALF OF 2006

EXPORT OF ITALIAN SPINNING MACHINERY

BY MAIN MARKETS (MILLION EURO) FIRST HALF OF 2006

The Italian companies engaged in the production of spinning machines are located mostly in the areas of Biella and of Prato, moreover in the provinces of Lombardy with higher textile tradition and in the Veneto region.

The Italian supply is nearly all-inclusive, as the supplied machines enable the processing of the whole range of fibres used in the textile production. Equally wide is the range of the equipment engineered and manufactured to create the manifold specialities which characterize the sector of the Italian spinning machines.

The Italian technology which serves spinning has a leading position also in the woollen sector, where some manufacturers of carding and spinning machines rightly enjoy a top reputation in the eyes of the international users of this sector, and have no comparable competition beyond national borders.

Also as far as cotton spinning system is concerned (for the processing, besides of cotton, of flax and blends with man-made fibres, both artificial and synthetic), there are in Italy some prominent companies which enjoy a long tradition and offer in the whole the complete equipment for this specific processing line, from bale opening to the different units for the final treatment of the yarns.

In last years, the applied research of the Italian manufacturers of spinning machines was focused mainly on the critical points of the process, while kept at the same time into consideration the priorities of the textile market downstream.

As to the preparatory processes for spinning, the Italian manufacturers strove to find out proper solutions to following primary needs: i) to reduce the investment and management costs of the preparatory lines; ii) to focus the attention on machines for niche productions with higher added value, in order to obtain a higher remuneration of the invested capitals. This gave rise to preparatory lines which are more compact, simpler and with inferior overall dimensions, thanks to a higher sophistication of the opening and cleaning zones of the processed fibres, as well as to a more thorough and electronically managed supervision of the process conditions in the long run. Almost all manufacturers did their utmost to find out more effective solutions for the elimination of the equipment which increases operating, maintenance and surface occupation costs. The Italian supply of preparatory spinning machines stands out particularly because of its flexibility and its ability to adapt itself to a production logic which aims, by managing small lots, at achieving a substantial added value and which permits the spinners to approach market niches with profitable remuneration level.

Over the years, the yarn formation process experienced intense technological evolutions. The Italian manufacturers maintained a sensitive and vigilant attitude, to grasp the most specific aspects of the technical and stylistically performances of a final textile product under continuous transformation; in this way they were able and ready to offer the machines suited to meet the requirements of the very moment. The manufacturers of cotton and woollen spinning machines practically abandoned, especially in the last two or three decades, the traditional technology, and designed a new an often original solution.

One of the fundamental developments applied to traditional spinning is the exploitation of the automation concept and the assembling of the services required by the spinning mill in order to reduce the operating costs and to ensure good quality in the long run. The latest developments which to a greater extent has stimulated the manufacturers of the western world with higher textile culture (especially in Italy), were principally the compression spinning system and the spinning system for special fancy yarns. This technological breakthrough, which originally materialized on cotton spinning machines, concerns by now also woollen spinning machines - which are more difficult to be designed -, a sector where the Italian manufacturers are leading with their ring frames for compact spinning.

Fancy yarn spinning, a sector in the lead in Italy, certainly does not lack stylistic research, creativity and attention to fashion changes. The resort to fancy yarns for the production of articles with special effects permits the approach to market niches which can offer reasonable profit margins, even against a fierce international competition.

In the rotor spinning sector, the technological developments implemented on OE spinning machines, which saw also the contribution of Italian companies, have been manifold during the years. The last developments concern the OE production of knitting yarns, where the most significant innovations, applied on devices considered as the heart of the machines, regard the proper selection of the fibres, of the type of rotor and of the opening roller, of the twists and of the type of certified cone to be produced. Thanks to this technological progress, the OE spinning machine opens up to the knitting sector, a sector which in the past was rather reluctant to the use of OE yarns owing to the rougher touch applied by the yarn onto textile goods. Another technological development which saw the leading role of an Italian trademark opened the possibility to attain rotor speeds up to 150.000 turns/min.; this permits to spin also small yarn lots, while ensuring a reduction of delivery times. This high flexibility, which could hardly be realized in the past, permits: i) to plan thoroughly the production (on independent machine fronts), ii) to minimize downtimes and iii) to obtain a high quality production. An important aspect of this innovation is the making up of the cone with certified quality, with a winding density 30% higher than in cones produced on traditional OE spinning machines.

Moreover we wish to stress that the Italian supply of textile machines includes also companies specialized in the manufacture of machines for the processing of regenerated fibres, i.e. cutting machines, tearing machines, openers, carding willows. These machines permit to serve a textile segment which is still important in our country and enjoys a considerable demand from many foreign markets, especially from East Europe.

In this presentation of the Italian technology applied to the spinning sector, even if concise, we cannot forget to include the machines for the automatic handling of spinning packages (bobbins, cops, cones), an activity in which the Italian companies have an absolute leadership. A mention is also due to the companies which offer plants and systems for the conditioning and cleaning of the air in the processing rooms, equipment which is indispensable to optimize the production also in the spinning mill.

The supply of Italian technology for the spinning sector maintains therefore a high market value, with peaks of absolute excellence. The long tradition and high competence acquired through the daily contact with the textile industries downstream led the Italian manufacturers of spinning machines to play a role of primary importance as technological partners for the production of high quality textiles.

Contact:

Association of Italian Textile Machinery Manufacturers (ACIMIT)

Mauro Badanelli, ACIMIT Economics and Press Office Manager

tel. 02 4693611 e-mail: info@acimit.it

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