Agricultural machinery: first quarter in the red

Agro Napló
Tractor registrations fell 24.5% in the first part of the year and other types of machinery were also down. The declines were steep because the figures are based on results for the first quarter of 2011 which were strongly positive because of the spin-off of incentives then in effect. In any case, the domestic market is not showing a reversal of the negative trend over the past few years. The national industries in the sector, said the president of the national agricultural machinery manufacturers association, Massimo Goldoni, are holding out thanks to the sound trends on foreign market and a resulting recovery in exports.

 

Registrations of agricultural machinery sold on the Italian market showed substantial drops for all types of machinery in the first quarter of the year. The January-March figures compiled by FederUnacoma on the basis of registrations reported by the Ministry of Transport disclose a decline of 24.5% for tractors, at 4,905 units compared to 6,497 units in 2011, a 12.8% drop for combines, transporters off 23.5% and trailers down 21.5%. The steep losses were due in great part to the anomalous trend in the first quarter of 2011 when there was a strong surge in registrations for a gain of 26.6% driven by a government incentive decree on scrapping machinery and financing through the Rural Development Plans assigned at the end of December 2010. Compared to such a favorable quarter, the declines in registrations can be considered in part natural though they were still great.



FederUnacoma President Massimo Goldoni explained, “The hopes of the manufacturers were that 2012 could mark a recovery for the domestic market but the trend for the first part of the year does not give a glimpse of a reversal of the trend and this is serious, especially if we consider that the European market is in overall growth as shown by the 2011 balance sheet disclosing an average gain for tractors of 12.6%. Fortunately, our industries are competitive and have sound positions on foreign markets and this,” Goldoni affirmed, “compensates in part for the deep crisis on the domestic market owing to the structural weakness of our agricultural system which is unable to invest for the purchase of new machinery and the general economic difficulties hitting the country for the past few months.”



Data on exports of Italian agricultural machinery compiled by ISTAT, the National Statistics Institute, in fact, indicate substantial growth in 2011, ahead 22% in value for tractors and up 14.7% for other agricultural machinery. This trend is, moreover, in line with the positive showing of the European industry overall.



Rome, April 16, 2012

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Source: Unacoma

Címlapkép: Getty Images
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