Tractor Sales in Italy Down 12% in First 5 Months of 2020

Despite the negative impacts of COVID-19 on the agriculture equipment industry, FederUnacoma says there is still a push toward mechanization which will aid eventual recovery.

FederUnacoma
Tractor sales in Italy were especially hard hit in April and May due to COVID-19 health emergency.
Tractor sales in Italy were especially hard hit in April and May due to COVID-19 health emergency.
Arbos

The global health emergency (COVID-19) has had unimaginable consequences on the economy, since there have never been comparable experiences in recent history. The crisis of 2008/2009 originated from a financial collapse, while the COVID-19 crisis attacked directly the real economy with a stop to production and trade.

The International Monetary Fund estimates for 2020 a drop in production at a global level of around 4.9%, with a deficit of 3% for emerging economies and a drop of 8% for advanced economies. The impact will surely be felt in the agricultural machinery sector.

"The health crisis occurred in a phase that was already critical for the sector," explained the president of FederUnacoma Alessandro Malavolti during a press conference held July 23 as a live streaming event, "given that already in 2019 the market trend had been dropping, and that in the first 3 months of this year sales had suffered a fairly substantial drop."

The FederUnacoma calculations using the Agrievolution data indicate for 2019 a negative balance of 5.6% for tractors in terms of units, mainly caused by the negative performance of the two Asian giants India and China, respectively down by 9.1% and 9.9%, only partially offset by the good result of the European (+7.9%) and U.S. (+3.7%) markets.

After the negative close of 2019, in the first 3 months of 2020 tractors sales saw a further drop in all the main markets: the United States were down 7.6%, Europe 4.9%, India 11.5%, the Russian Federation 6.2%, and Japan 28.8%.

"The data on the tractor market in the months of April and May, which were most directly affected by the stoppage of activities for the COVID emergency," specified the President of FederUnacoma, "indicate a drop in Europe of 25.8% and 22.6% respectively, with an overall reduction of 12% in the first 5 months of the year."

This context helps shed light on the value of the EIMA Digital Preview, the "virtual" edition of the world exhibition of agricultural machinery organized by FederUnacoma. The Digital Preview will be staged November 11-15, the same days initially scheduled for the traditional EIMA, which was moved to February 2021 due to the COVID emergency. "The digital preview is important for operators from all over the world," said Malavolti "and particularly for those countries which, despite suffering from the consequences of the health crisis, nevertheless show a significant push towards mechanization."

"In this light, collaboration with the ICE Agency is truly fundamental," concluded Malavolti "to create together with FederUnacoma the Business-to-Business meetings between exhibiting companies and foreign business people."

The foreign delegations of 40 countries from the five continents will be organized remotely, and will be selected precisely on the basis of the dynamics that the agricultural mechanization market shows in the various contexts. Countries like Canada, Mexico, Russia and many others continue to express a growing demand for technology even in this difficult economic situation, and it is to be expected that their business people will be very active in November on the EIMA platform.

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