Italy sells more tannery machinery than footwear machinery
Following meetings held in Vigevano, Santa Croce sull’Arno and Civitanova Marche, the national association of technology manufacturers for the footwear, leather goods and tanning industries —ASSOMAC—, in collaboration with specialized consulting firms, promoted discussions on the sector’s most pressing challenges.
As a summary, the organization highlighted the industry’s solidity, while noting the need for structural changes in response to international competition. Key issues related to business continuity, management and financing were also addressed, with the aim of strengthening an industrial model that represents one of the pillars of Made in Italy, within a complex and highly competitive global context.
The Economic and Financial Report on the Italian Machinery Sector for Tanning, Footwear and Leather Goods, prepared by the ASSOMAC Research Center, provided a comprehensive analysis of the segment’s evolution. The study covered the period from 1995 to 2024, with the objective of offering a broad overview of industry trends, international competitive positioning, and the economic and financial conditions of companies operating in the sector.
Recognition of Italian technology has progressively evolved as a result of a structural transformation: production volumes have gradually declined in favor of increasingly higher quality, with a stronger focus on high-value segments, especially those linked to luxury and premium products. Exports are the main driver of this highly specialized and strongly internationalized sector, which experiences phases of growth and contraction closely connected to the global economic cycle.
At the same time, the composition of the sector’s offering has changed, with tanning machinery and spare parts gaining importance compared with footwear machinery. Of the more than €290 million in total exports of technologies and machinery recorded in 2024, €119 million corresponded to tannery machinery, €53 million to traditional footwear machinery, €30 million to machinery for leather goods, and €89 million to parts and components.
The report also examined China’s rapid development, which has gained particular relevance after the country became the world’s leading exporter in 2024, surpassing Italy and contributing to an increasingly polarized global market between the two nations.
China’s dominant position in the footwear machinery segment is based on its price competitiveness and its capacity to supply high-volume markets such as Vietnam, Indonesia and Bangladesh, which are linked to large-scale manufacturing production.
According to Mauro Bergozza, president of ASSOMAC, “it is very important to adopt coherent long-term strategies capable of supporting the competitiveness of Italian companies and the evolution of the production system in an increasingly complex global scenario. Along this path, platforms such as SIMAC TANNING TECH are taking on an increasingly central role, not only as trade fairs, but also as spaces where innovation, industry and the market converge, capable of integrating the entire supply chain and enhancing Italian technological excellence.”