Metalworking Machine Tools: Segments with Highest Export Potential

In several segments of the sector there is a significant share of markets in a phase of Growth

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The 2024 final data on world trade flows confirmed international sales of Metalworking Machine Tools1 at record levels: last year, according to data from ExportPlanning Ulisse Datamart, world trade in the sector stood at close to 38 billion euros, down from the all-time high of 2023, but still at historically high levels.

Metalworking Machine Tools:
Which Segments Are Driving Growth?

With the recent update of the Market Selection-ExportPlanning tool, a new sectoral indicator called “Import Development Stage” has been introduced, which is able to classify each country in one of the three phases of the import life cycle of a specific product: Latency, Growth and Saturation2.
This indicator is particularly useful for companies that are interested in expanding, diversifying and optimizing their export destinations, as it allows them to identify those markets in which the imports of a given product are in a phase of structural growth.


The table below highlights the segments of the Metalworking Machine Tools sector that present the greatest number of markets in the Growth phase of imports.

Above all, the case of machine tools operated by laser3 stands out, which presents as many as 79 international markets in the Growth phase4, for a total associated value of approximately 1.5 billion euros of imports.

Metalworking Machine Tools:
Number of Growing Markets and their Value of Imports

Number
of markets		 Imports 2024
(millions €)
Machine tools operated by laser 79 1 468
Grinding machines, Computer Numerical Control (CNC) 25 149
Horizontal lathes, CNC 23 662
Industrial robots 22 94
Machine centers for metalworking 20 931
Grinding machines with accuracy of at least 0.01mm (non CNC) 20 42
Machine tools operated by ultrasonic/electrodischarge processes 19 8
Machine tools with guide rail 19 23
Other metalworking machine tools 18 202
Boring machines 17 8
Grinding machines with accuracy of at least 0.01mm (CNC) 17 52
Vertical lathes, non CNC 16 20
CNC kee-type milling machines for metalworking 16 33
Honig or lapping machines 16 8
Horizontal lathes, non CNC 15 14
Source: StudiaBo processing on ExportPlanning database

Note: the table does not include all segments of Metalworking Machine Tools, but only those with the highest number of products experiencing import growth

Another segment with a high number (23) of international markets in the Growth phase5 and a total associated value of approximately 1.5 billion euros of imports is that of horizontal lathes, Computer Numerical Control (CNC)6.

The grinding machines (non CNC)7 and industrial robots8 segments also present a significant number (25 and 22 respectively) of markets in the Growth phase, but with total associated import values that are decidedly lower (149 and 94 million euros respectively), indicating that these are markets with a value that is still relatively insignificant.

In the list of Metalworking Machine Tools segments with the best numbers in terms of markets in the Growth phase and total associated import values, it is also worth highlighting the case of machining centers for metalworking9, which presents 20 international markets10 in the Growth phase and a total associated import value of 931 million euros.

Conclusions

The use of the Import Development Stage indicator can help highlight the greatest opportunities for exports of a particular sector, at segment and market level.
In particular, the usefulness of this indicator is evident in sector contexts in which it is useful to identify the most dynamic components in terms of product segments, i.e. those characterized by a significant number of markets in the Growth phase and at the same time characterized by an already particularly significant value of imports.


1) See here the related description table.
2) There are also two other categories: one called “Other” which includes markets that, for a given product, do not have sufficiently clear characteristics to be assigned with certainty to one of the three phases. The other is “Unclassified” which includes countries that, for a given product, do not have sufficient data available on imports or GDP. For further information on the methodology used to build the indicator, you can refer to the article: Market selection: the new "Import Development Stage" indicator to discover the most promising export markets.
3) See here the related description table.
4) In particular, for the segment machine tools operated by laser, the cases of the following growing markets are noted - with a value of imports of the segment exceeding 100 million euros: Mexico (255 M €), Vietnam (239 M €), Brazil (177 M €), Turkey (139 M €), Malaysia (101 M €).
5) In particular, for the segment horizontal lathes, CNC, the cases of the following growing markets are noted - with a value of imports of the segment exceeding 80 million euros: Turkey (264 M €), Japan (119 M €), Ukraine (102 M €), Russia (82 M €).
6) See here the related description table.
7) See here the related description table.
8) See here the related description table.
9) See here the related description table.
10) In particular, for the machining centers for metalworking segment, the following growing markets are noted - with a value of imports in the segment exceeding 70 million euros: Turkey (460 M €), Vietnam (192 M €), Ukraine (91 M €), Belarus (74 M €).