While waiting for the upcoming exhibitions dedicated to eyewear, this sector represented by Anfao is also moving towards energy costs. Within Confindustria Moda, the association brings together the manufacturers of optical items.
Not particularly energy-intensive, with energy costs on average within the limits of 5% of the total, the current price levels are also becoming difficult to manage for eyewear.
The rise in the cost of energy and raw materials, which had already affected production costs in 2021, following the war in Ukraine has embarked on a dizzying trend that has triggered a global crisis that undoubtedly has a heavy impact on corporate balance sheets.
Furthermore, the rising cost of energy has contributed to bringing inflation to its historic highs for decades, also bringing to the fore serious problems on household incomes and purchasing power.
As pointed out by the president of Anfao, Giovanni Vitaloni: “This crisis, which is no longer just energy, but is now global, and which, once again, has plunged us back into uncertainty, is putting our entire sector to the test. In particular, the recovery that we have hung up with so much effort after two years of pandemic is at risk ”.
Anfao: the numbers of eyewear
Thanks to the strong international propensity, eyewear was among the sectors that were able to react in 2021, bringing its values back to pre-covid levels. Looking at the numbers, production includes 848 companies nationwide for 18,000 employees, in 2021 it was 4.17 billion euros, + 4.5% compared to 2019.
The increase in bills and management costs to levels that are no longer sustainable, without new and additional measures of contrast and support, could seriously jeopardize the continuation of the activity of many companies in the sector in the coming months. And this especially for SMEs, less structured and less prepared to absorb new increases in raw materials, transport, logistics and packaging, just to name the most important items.
Anfao, which as a whole, as a textile-fashion-accessory system, shares the further concern that made in Italy will lose competitiveness in this context, hopes that politics will be able to take sudden and concrete decisions as soon as possible that go towards immediate refreshments. Since industry represents a national security issue towards which to direct resources, where, as in this case, due to the crisis, the welfare and social cohesion of the country are at stake.