The balance of sales of agricultural machinery over the first five months of 2011 was positive. Growth was displayed in Italy in the January-May period with tractor registrations up 18%, combines ahead 14% and trailers climbing by 14.7%. The only figure on the downside was for transporters, off by 5.7% for the five months. The data developed by Unacoma on the basis of registrations with motor vehicle departments were reported in Bologna this morning during the association’s annual assembly to finally signal a reversal of the steady trend of declining sales in recent years.
The gains, however, were assigned mainly to the effect of incentives for scrapping machinery and financing available in the framework of Rural Development Plans, RDPs. Many of the applications filed at the end of 2010 were, in fact, completed in the opening months of the new year and thus count as 2011 registrations. The president of the manufacturers association, Massimo Goldoni, told the assembly, “It is perfectly obvious that the effect of the incentives was deferred over time if we note that the rising percentages for tractors were very strong in the first months of the year, up 22.9% on average for January-April, and much less substantial for the month of May, plus 4.1% when the incentive effect was wearing off.” Goldoni went on to say, “The sales volumes are thus certain to be scaled back over the year though the market picture appears to be improving.” Improvement is confirmed by the trend on the European market where tractor sales climbed 19.3% on average during the first three months of the year. This recovery also carried positive repercussions for Italian exports which rose 20.6% in value for tractors in the first quarter of the year and climbed 16.7% for other types of agricultural machinery and equipment.
Moreover, exports were already moving ahead by the end of 2010 with growth of 9.4% on the balance sheet for December to allow Italian industries to boost production volumes and regain positions held in 2009, the year in which the global economic crisis weighed most heavily on the mechanics sector. The table summarizing the 2010 figures, in fact, shows growth in production and value for tractors, up 3.4% with 61,000 units turned out, a 1.4% increase for tractor components and spare parts, a 9.2% increase for all other agricultural machinery and earthmoving machinery ahead by 9.5%. Production in all the sectors represented by Unacoma came to the total value of € 8.9 billion for an improvement of 7.2% over the figure for 2009 but still far off the pre-crisis levels attained at around € 12.5 billion. Of special significance in the production data is earthmoving, a sector which, on the domestic side, is still burdened by crisis conditions in showing a 14.3% plunge in the first quarter of 2011 but beginning a comeback thanks to the rebound of exports.
Over the first three months of the year exports of these machines soared 44% over the same period in 2010. This recovery in exports, on the one hand, and support on the domestic market on the other should lift this Unacoma sector out of its most critical phase on condition that there is a knowledgeable use of the financial instruments available. In this connection, Goldoni pointed out, “By May this year, the RDP funds put to use by the regions came to just 27% of the total assigned for the 2007-2013 period and the risk of the disengagement of these unused funds will be great if the efficiency of our administration system fails to improve.”
Dozza (Bologna), June 23, 2011
The tables below report registrations January-May 2011 and 2010 production
