The second Corona virus wave threatens to slow down the agricultural machinery market just as it was showing signs of recovery following the first outbreak earlier in the year.
That is the message from FederUnacoma (Italian agricultural machinery manufacturers association) president Alessandro Malavolti. Speaking at a press conference at the virtual edition of the Italian EIMA farm machinery show, he said the resurgence of the epidemic could slow down the markets, including Europe.
He reckons the drop in production due to the temporary closure of many manufacturing plants last spring were largely foreseeable. “The effects that could arise from new restrictive measures are less predictable,” he added, “which could slow down production, logistics and transport, and damage exports.”
FederUnacoma president Alessandro Malavolti (right) with general director Simona Rapastella.
Mr Malavolti’s message follows a good recovery, which he reckons is due to good overall stability of the agricultural sector.
Tractor registration information collected by FederUnacoma for the first nine months of this year, points to a 14.7% increase in the US to around 219,000 units, a 4.7% rise in India to roughly 544,000 tractors, and the German tractor market was up by +7.7% to around 24,000 units.
Positive trends were also recorded in Canada (+8.9%/19,000 units) and Russia with just under 18,000 tractors (+0.7%) registered for the first eight months of 2020.
Following a sharp decline in tractor sales in Italy during the first six months of the year, registrations increased by 20.7% in September and 7.5% in October compared with the same months in 2019. Overall though, the Italian tractor market fell by 10.0% during the first 10 months of this year.
