In November, 124 fewer new tractors and 62 fewer new trailers were registered than the previous month. After slight “bounces” in the previous months, there is a return to the downward trend in the registration (i.e., in fact, sales) of these two key categories of new agricultural machinery in November 2023. However, there is still an increase in the market for second-hand machinery. The Polish Chamber of Commerce for Agricultural machinery and devices (PIGMiUR) records an increase of 11.8% in the registration of used tractors and nearly 10% increase in the registration of used trailers compared to November 2022.
Negative sentiment continues to dominate the agricultural industry, affecting investment in new equipment. This conclusion may emerge from a brief analysis of data on the registration, and therefore, in fact, the sale of brand-new agricultural tractors.
In November, fewer tractors were registered than in October. In November, New Holland led the way. PIGMiUR recorded the registration of 836 new agricultural tractors. This is 124 less than a month ago, although 20 more than in November 2022. Since the beginning of the year, 8962 new tractors have been registered, which is 1650 less than during the same period last year. Therefore, this indicates a reduction of 15.5%.
Wojciech Bury, President of PIGMiUR, notes, “We are getting closer to the point that the results from previous months may turn out to be only ‘swallows’ and after a momentary increase in the registration of new tractors and trailers, a return to the downward trend has occurred. We still have to wait until the end of the year to give a final opinion on this matter”.
The race for the leading position in the tractor market, which was signaled a few months ago, is going to last until the end. Currently, there has been another change on the podium. The most popular brand among new tractors turned out to be New Holland, which is back in the first place with a share of 16.9%. John Deere drops to the second place at 16.4%, and Kubota is in third place with a 12% share. Fourth place belongs to Deutz Fahr, and the fifth to Case IH. Geographically, the podium is led by Mazovia, followed by Greater Poland.
The registration of new agricultural trailers continued. November was the second worst month of this year. Trailers are the second basic category of agricultural machinery. In November, 352 units of new machines of this kind were registered. “After September, when we had 348 registrations, this is the worst result this year. It is 136 more than last month, but worse than the same time last year, when 488 new trailers were registered”, compares the current results from November with those from the previous year, the president of PIGMiUR.
In total, since the beginning of the year, 5818 new agricultural trailers have been registered. “That’s 1742 units less than in the same period in 2022, or through the entire 11 months. This result indicates a year-on-year decline of as much as 23%”, says Wojciech Bury. The leader here is the Pronar company with a 33% share, followed by Metal – Fach, Metaltech, and Wielton.
According to the president of PIGMiUR, the end of the year is a kind of “time to wait”. “We are already after the season, and the next one is quite far in the future. November and December are usually declining months unless the end of a project or budget to be settled comes into play. Only the first quarter will show whether we will permanently return to the path of growth or whether the market will remain in a downward trend”, emphasizes Wojciech Bury.
The market for used agricultural machinery is on the rise. The situation is different on the secondary market for agricultural machinery, which can already be considered a trend. At the end of November, PIGMiUR recorded 20,690 used tractors registered. That’s 2189 units more than in the same period in 2022, an increase of 11.8%. The chamber also notes that the John Deere brand leads the secondary market after 11 months of the year.
In the case of second-hand trailers, from January to November 2023, 5956 were registered, or 539 more than a year ago. This means the increase in this category in the secondary market is 9.9%.
“These results confirm that instead of waiting for better times, the Polish agricultural producer is modernizing his machinery park based on what he has. He is continuously striving to increase his competitiveness in the domestic and foreign markets, although with used machines it may be a bit more difficult”, believes Wojciech Bury.
The decrease in registration of new machinery due to ever-worsening mood among potential buyers of tractors and trailers could be the reason for the results recorded in November for the registration of new and used primary categories of agricultural machinery. “They were previously resulted from rising energy prices, inflation, uncertainty related to the war in Ukraine, or difficulties with the sale of agricultural crops (e.g., grain)”, commented Wojciech Bury, during PIGMiUR’s study at the turn of October and November on this topic.
He also recalled that the hastily adopted pawnshop loan law in spring also put obstacles in the farmers’ way, creating chaos in the market for the sale of new agricultural machinery and essentially making it difficult to lease them in many cases, which is in many cases the equity contribution necessary for their purchase – as considered by the president of PIGMiUR. He emphasized that as a result, European funds for agricultural producers remain largely untouched. The main condition to benefit from them is to have their equity contribution, which comes mostly from leasing.
In October of this year, PIGMiUR conducted a survey on the current and anticipated economic situation in the industry. This is a recurring survey repeated every six months and conducted since June 2014. The result is a numerical value – an index that reflects the atmosphere in the agricultural industry (machinery and agricultural devices) among entrepreneurs, as they are the ones participating in the study.
Negative sentiment in the machinery and agricultural devices industry – compared to the survey conducted six months earlier – has deepened even further. Until October 2023, the overall value of the index has been decreasing and is now – 3.73 points.
