Spain and Italy: two countries that have close cultural and language ties and with a dense trading network between the two. That much emerges from ExportPlanning’s figures for 2021, regarding results for HostMilano product sectors.

The data reveal that bilateral trade flows between Italy and Spain now total nearly 486 million euros, and are expected to reach 580 million euros in 2025, with a CAGR (compound annual growth rate) of +4.6%.

The lion’s share of this total concerns Italian exports to Spain: at around 314 million euros, these account for approximately two thirds of trade between Italy and Spain. Development prospects are also good: between 2022 and 2025 they are expected to grow to a CAGR of +3.8% in values in euros, and should reach nearly 364 million euros in 2025. The main contribution to the growth of this sector will come from Professional Foodservice (generating an extra 29 million euros). With 177.3 million euros recorded in 2021 (equal to more than 56% of Italian exports to Spain of HostMilano products), sales to the Spanish market accounted for 4.3% of total Italian exports in the sector, which means that the Spanish market ranks fifth in the league table of countries Italy exports to, behind France, Germany, the USA and the UK.

Italy cornered a substantial market share of 12.9% in 2021, behind the market leader China, with 43.4%. More specifically, refrigeration equipment (47.1 million euros, with 62.4 million euros forecast for 2025 and a CAGR of +7.3%) ranks as the best selling Professional Foodservice segment in trade between Italy and Spain. Other sales segments worthy of note include chilled display units, chests and cupboards (28.6 million euros), electric ovens, hobs and cookers (27.5 million euros) and cookware (26.3 million euros).

Coffee-making Machinery and Vending Machines (50.6 million euros, a figure forecast to rise to 57.2 million euros in 2025 with a CAGR of +3.1%) account for 4.1% of Italian exports in the sector, making Spain Italy’s sixth most important market, behind France, the United States, Germany, China and the UK. In 2021 Italian firms confirmed their top ranking on the Spanish market with a share of 51.2 %, significantly higher than Germany, Sweden, South Korea, France and China. This leading position is largely explained by its dominance in coffee-making machinery (35.5 million euros exported, a figure that should exceed 45 million euros in 2025, with a CAGR +6.3%).

Italian exports of Bread Baking and Pastry-making Machinery to Spain totalled just under 15 million euros, 2% of Italian exports, with the Spanish market ranking ninth. Italian sales in the sector, with a share of 30.8%, lead the way on the Spanish market, headed by bread-baking machinery (14.3 million euros), with pastry and dough-making machinery adding a further 0.6 million euros.

Finally Tableware (71 million euros, expected to reach 85.2 million euros in 2025, CAGR +4.7%) accounts for 5.1% of Italian exports in the sector, with the Spanish market ranking as the fourth highest country after France, the United States and Germany.

With a share of just 4.7%, Italy could probably improve its standing on the Spanish market. Its three main competitors in the EU are Germany, France and Portugal, with China and Pakistan heading the list of other rival countries. Within the sector, the glassware and crockery segment is worthy of note: it generated 45.9 million euros in 2021, a figure that is expected to rise to 54.1 million euros in 2025.