In the second quarter of 2009, the sales of the German agricultural machinery industry were 27% below the figures of the previous year. According to the VDMA Agricultural Machinery Association, the recession has now fully reached the industry. However, comparisons which only refer to the boom year 2008 are difficult. If 2007 is chosen as a reference year, sales were 3% lower.

In the first three months, the manufacturers were still able to keep their sales almost at the high level of the previous year. Therefore, the half-year balance is more positive. From January until June, sales were 15% below the figures of the previous year and 9% above the level of the year 2007.

The tractor manufacturers have restricted their production disproportionately. Their sales dropped by 37% in the second quarter and by 21% in the first half of the year. In the first six months, 27,100 tractors left the assembly lines. A comparably low production quantity was last registered six years ago.

Since autumn 2008, the strongly export-oriented agricultural machinery industry feels the noticeable reservation of agricultural investors mainly in Central and Eastern Europe. In 2008, Russia was still the second most important export market. Currently, the country occupies seventh place after a 59% reduction of deliveries in the first four months. The development in Ukraine and the Baltic countries is similar. In France as the most important export market, sales even kept increasing in the first months. For a few months, however, the French farmers have now also been ordering considerably fewer new machines.

The development on the German market was satisfactory in the first half of the year. The sales of machines from German production increased by 8%. Based on unit numbers, the volume of the tractor market was only 2% below the level of the previous year. The sales of some machines, for which the delivery periods were over average last year, even continued to increase. Like in France, however, the number of orders received for new machines have dropped significantly in the past weeks and months. This will lead to a similar reduction of the market volume in the second half of the year.

The entire number of orders received (for the domestic and export business) of the German agricultural machinery industry ranged 23% below the level of the previous year in the period from April until June. Thus, it is foreseeable that the sales reduction is going to continue to a similar extent as in the past months. PJ

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