New Tractor sales strong despite dry
- By: "Farm Tender" News
- Sheep & Wool News
- Jun 14, 2018
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Agricultural Tractor Sales in May recorded another solid month, maintaining the march towards another record year.
Overall Tractor Sales now sit 8% ahead on a year to date basis and we are now well past the 12,000 tractor sales mark for the 3rd year in a row.
The strength of the market continues to be in the mid ranges, with the 100-200 Hp range up 7.5% on last month and now 23% ahead on the year to date.
The 40 to 100 HP segment was solid again, up 6% in the month and continues to perform strongly, up 6% this year.
By contrast, sales of larger tractors in the above 200Hp range have once again slipped behind last year’s mark, down a sizeable 26% in May and now 8% behind year to date.
Meanwhile, the under 40 HP segment gave back last month’s gains, down 4% and now sits in 2.0% behind last year.
Attempts to interpret the drivers of these results can be a bit difficult as larger tractors in particular, tend to be ordered against longer lead times, so decisions made late last year are significant in terms current deliveries.
What we do know is that sales of Hay Tools are down, the Dairy Industry is steady, the cost of money is rising and weather patterns across the nation have varied significantly.
Furthermore many in the industry are asking the question, “Just how many new tractors can the market absorb in 1 year”?
We know that the number of individual farms has dropped over recent years as has land usage, so at some point, we ought to see a level of saturation, albeit short term in nature. No doubt the position will become clearer in the months ahead.
Around the nation, business remains brisk in WA, up another 19% this month and now 10% ahead of last year.
Sales in Victoria were off 5% and are now slightly ahead of last year. NSW & SA picked up another 16% for the month.
The only significant drop off was seen in Queensland which, after a number of positive months, was down 15% for the month but remains 7% up on last year.
Sales of Harvesters are still yet to get going (63 units against 42 units last year) however, dealers are generally predicting a slower year this year as the impact of a lower 2017 crop combined with some new models slowly hitting the market are likely to impact.
Baler sales dipped in May, we’ve now sold 81 units this year compared to 72 last year as the market slowly recovers from what was an “off” year last year.
The sale of Out Front Mowers were down for the first time in recent memory and are now in line with the same time last year.
Finally, the TMA is holding its annual conference this year in Sydney on July 17th at the Novotel Brighton Le Sands and registrations are building.
We have another exciting lineup of speakers and one or two surprises in store that will make this a not to be missed event.
For further information: mim@tma.asn.au
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