Optimism at Simac Tanning Tech, but raw materials are expensive and hard to find. And production slows down. “We are full of orders, but there is a lack of components to assemble,” sums up Alberto Paccagnella (photo, left), president of Omac. For Gabriella Marchioni Bocca, (pictured, right), CEO of Lamebo, the company’s prospects are closely linked to those of leather, and communication on sustainability and circularity of leather is a key aspect. “There are many small crises to be faced that together create a difficult obstacle course to tackle,” explains Gemata‘s CEO Mauro Pellizzari (photo, centre).
Alberto Paccagnella (Omac)
“After two years of pandemic restrictions, this edition of the fair is definitely something else with interested visitors from the major production hubs (excluding China) such as Vietnam, Cambodia and India. But if the expensive energy situation we are experiencing continues, it would be a tragedy on an economic level. In addition, there is a shortage of the metals we buy, as well as components.
We need 150-180 inverters per month, one for each machine we produce, but finding them is very difficult. We order 10 and receive maybe 2 or 3. And that slows down production. We have a lot of orders, but production is slow. Then, often, the orders we receive involve the purchase of several machines to form a complete production line for the shoe factory, and we can’t make the shipment because maybe the simplest and least expensive machine is missing. So all the others sit idle in the warehouse”.
Gabriella Marchioni Bocca (Lamebo)
“It was a good Simac Tanning Tech. Except for the Chinese, all the other markets were present. I could mention South American countries, for example. On the subject of energy and material supply, the company signed a fixed-price electricity contract some time ago and we are in the process of installing a photovoltaic system. Steel has increased by 75 per cent since pre Covid. We have always bought European steel. We paid a bit more for it than other sources, but this policy has paid us back enormously in recent months. Prospects? We have to reach people’s hearts to make them understand that leather is sustainable and that we are upgrading a waste material. And then we have to make progress from the point of view of the production process, so that Europe once again plays a role in production”.
Mauro Pellizzari (Gemata)
“Simac Tanning Tech’s balance is very good. Asia is missing, but apart from that, the quality of visitors is very good. Those who travel, do so because they are interested. The market is very unstable and full of uncertainties. One cannot see the horizon well and so, even those who would like to buy, prefer to stall. Acutally, there are no big problems, but there are many and overlapping ones between the war in Europe, Covid in China, inflation, etc. And I think that at least for the next six months the situation will not change”.
Read also:
