The world tractor market closed 2013 with sales reaching the volume of two million units for a 10% gain over 2012 and expectations are for maintaining these high levels in the current year. India was confirmed in 2013 as the world’s leading tractor market with 620,000 units moved while China surged with a take up of 584,000 tractors for an increase of 42% and the European and United States markets moved ahead by 2% with sales of 138,000 and 94,000 units respectively. The first half of 2014 displayed similar conditions as regards overall volumes. On the drive of the agricultural economy with wheat yields expected to reach 718 million tons for the full year along with increases for oil crops, soya, sunflowers and rapeseed, with a surge of 422 million tons, the Indian tractor market was boosted 4% in the first half of the year compared to the same period in 2013, the U.S. market rose 4% and among the emerging counties Turkey showed 14% growth.
The European Union Member States slowed by 5% and the Chinese market declined by 8% as a natural downturn following the huge increase last year. The compensating factors between growing markets and those in decline should, by year-end, settle at the volumes reported for 2013 in part due to emerging demand in the countries of the Far East, Latin America and Oceania. Alongside the tractor market is the extremely broad one for other types of machinery, from those for harvesting yields, soil preparation, plant treatment and for all other agricultural operations. These are estimates unveiled at a FederUnacoma press conference held at EIMA International in the Bologna Trade Fair Center.
In this setting, the president of the Federation of Italian Agricultural Machinery Manufacturers, FederUnacoma’s Massimo Goldoni explained the front rank role played by the Italian industry which can vaunt high production levels and standings of foreign markets. Italian production is expected to come to the end of the year with sales valued at an overall total of € 7.83 billion, up 1%, of which € 2.26 billion accounted for by tractors, € 0.78 billion by incomplete tractors and parts, and another € 4.79 billion by all other agricultural machinery and equipment for a return to levels close to those of 2008, 8.2%. An examination of the various types, however, discloses a trend of differentiated production: in growth are incomplete tractors and agricultural machinery, rising by 2.77% and 2.81% respectively, whereas on the down side are complete tractors which are expected to end the year off by 3.42%. This negative trend is due to the decline of Italian export in the European Union tractor market and especially in France which is the leading market for Italian production where sales in the first nine months of the year fell 24%. This drop for tractors was offset by gains in exports of other types of machinery and equipment, especially to the United States where the exports of Italian production rose 23.3% in the first half of the year leading to expectations for exports to gain 2% by the end of 2014 and to pursue the ongoing positive trend of recent years.
