Industrial districts beat the crisis and exceed pre-Covid levels, both in terms of turnover and competitiveness. And with the PNRR they have the opportunity to further accelerate investments, becoming the economic pivot of the country system. This is what emerges from the presentation of the fourteenth edition of Intesa Sanpaolo’s Economic and Finance Report of the Industrial Districts which, this year, describes the impacts of the 2020 crisis and the strong rebound of 2021, focusing on the reactions of district companies to the pandemic crisis and focusing on on the priorities to be addressed, also in light of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Pandemic and war
The turnover of district manufacturing companies, after a decline of 14.5% in 2020, last year recorded a rebound of + 25.2%, 4.3% more than in 2019. Thanks also to the record in exports reached 133 billion. The Russian invasion of Ukraine, however, has further changed the scenario for companies facing volatile and constantly rising commodity prices.
From a purely economic point of view, the closure of the Russian and Ukrainian market costs the Italian districts 3.2 billion, with Veneto, Lombardy and Emilia Romagna all losing over two billion euros.
However, according to Intesa Sanpaolo, “if the supply problems triggered by the pandemic and then amplified by the Russian invasion lead to a continental-based regionalization of global value chains, opportunities could be opened up for Italian districts thanks to the presence of structured and of a good core of resilient companies “.
Strengths
The districts confirm their competitiveness thanks to a shorter supply chain: the average distance of supplies, although increased with the pandemic, is equal to 116 kilometers, 24 less than in non-district areas, while the average number of suppliers per company is 29 against the 25 of the other areas.
Furthermore, the foreign trade data confirm the high competitiveness of the districts at an international level. In the first quarter of 2022, exports increased by 19.3%, with an increase of 16% compared to pre-pandemic levels. Also because the districts can count on a core of leading companies that proved resilient during the pandemic: 845 district companies, equal to 4.7% of the total, in 2020 grew both in the income statement and in the number of employees. And on the other hand, many of the most resilient entrepreneurial realities are active in the districts that have faced the pandemic crisis better than others: “This year – explains the report – the first three places in the ranking of the best Italian districts are agricultural machinery. of Padua and Vicenza, the Camperistica of the Val d’Elsa and the agricultural machinery of Reggio Emilia and Modena ».
Investments
“The district supply chains – continues the document – will be able to continue to represent a factor of competitiveness only if the players that make up them are able to renew and strengthen their strategic relationships, through an acceleration of investments in innovation and technology, including green, a dimensional consolidation and training and the introduction of new skills in the company “.
On the other hand, from the study of some sectors of the North-East with a high district vocation, a picture emerges characterized by an acceleration in the adoption of Industry 4.0 technologies starting from 2017, thanks also to the push of policy initiatives. However, the data show that so far the phenomenon has largely affected medium-large companies. Furthermore, there is even better on the environmental front – less than one in three companies in the last three years has purchased efficient machinery that reduces energy consumption – and on that of governance.
Pnrr
If the PNRR represents a unique opportunity for the Italian economic system that can find adequate support to relaunch its propensity to invest, for companies and districts it also promotes environmental sustainability with energy communities “which are coalitions of users (citizens, companies, local authorities, etc.), which voluntarily adhere to collaboration agreements for the production, consumption and management of energy through local energy plants powered by renewable sources, with the possibility of using the national distribution network for sharing of excess energy produced. This is a very recent phenomenon with a high potential, especially in industrial districts, given the high levels of sharing of the energy produced that can be achieved and the higher energy intensity in the districts (4.1% of energy-intensive companies vs 3, 0%) “.