ECJ EUROPEAN Cleaning Journal

Italian professional cleaning trade show Pulire opened its doors in Verona this morning, with 290 exhibitors covering an area of 16,000 square metres. At the opening ceremony organiser Afidamp also published its statistics for the country's professional cleaning products sector in 2010.

Industry turnover in equipment, chemical, tools, paper and tissue, textiles and accessories amounted to just over 1,470 million euros - slightly higher than last year's figures. Equipment enjoyed the highest growth, at eight per cent, followed by tools at four per cent; and chemicals at three per cent. This, says the sector association Afidamp - which carried out the research - is a partial recovery from the losses suffered in 2009 but the Italian industry is still lagging behind other nations such as Germany and France.

Italy is still one of the industry's greatest exporting nations, however, with 49 per cent of industry turnover accounted for by sales outside the country.

As expected, equipment sales make up the greatest share of the market, at 33 per cent. Chemical products account for 19 per cent; tools five per cent; paper and tissue 27 per cent; fibres and textiles two per cent; accessories and parts five per cent; and other products make up nine per cent.

At this year's Pulire exhibition 76 per cent of the exhibitors are Italian, highlighting the continuing national importance of the show. The number of foreign visitors however, says the organiser, has been growing steadily. Germany and Spain represent the largest foreign delegations, with exhibitors from Turkey, China, Brazil, Russia and the USA also attending.

Visit the show website for more information: www.pulire-it.com