The considerable slow-down in industrial production seen in international markets due to the widespread financial crisis, which began in previous years, continues to be highly critical for the markets in which FISIA Italimpianti, the company which heads the segment, operates. The Arabian Gulf countries, which are FISIA Italimpianti’s key markets, have not yet recommenced their development programmes halted in 2008 in an organised manner. Although this has critical repercussions on the company’s order backlog, the group company acquired a contract to build a new desalination plant worth approximately $US 28 million towards the end of the year.
Even if this contract’s value is not comparable to those acquired in previous years, it represents the first important step towards recovery, also considering the technologies provided for in the contract, which are an interesting alternative to those used for the large plants built in the past.