The forklift market - Italy

1.1 Definition and scope of study

A forklift is defined as a powered operating vehicle (electric, diesel or gas) whose purpose is to lift and transfer loads in factories, warehouses or logistics depots.

The forklift market is actually a segment of the larger material handling equipment industry. 

There are many types of forklifts, some of them are:

·      electric or thermal (front-end) counterbalanced forklift;;

·      reach truck;

·      order picking trolley;

·      trilateral trolley;

·      etc. 

Globally, the market is projected to grow at a CAGR of 1.93% to reach a value of $17.61 billion by the end of 2021.  

It is also estimated to produce up to 2.2 million units by 2023, this growing trend is due to the use of these operational assets in more and more industries. 

Another trend that is driving the growth of this market is definitely related to the technological advances of recent years. 

In Italy, the market has been considered stable for several years. The regions that have registered the highest number of forklift truck orders in the last years are those in the North, in particular in the first place we find Lombardy, where 11.766 forklift trucks have been sold, then Piedmont and Valle D'Aosta immediately followed by Liguria and Veneto. 

As far as Southern Italy is concerned, we can observe a significant growth in forklift orders, especially thanks to the food sector. 

However, we must also take into consideration that the recent health crisis has somewhat slowed down this market. This negative trend is due to the shutdown of many warehouses imposed in 2020. However, it is important to bear in mind that the market trend can vary according to the different types of trolley. It can be estimated that the demand for warehouse trucks has suffered less during this crisis, while frontal trucks have suffered the greatest setback. 

In any case, future growth is expected, as demonstrated by the significant recovery observed in 2021.