The decline in exports slows down Italian production
The overall value of national production of technologies for agriculture and gardening is set to close the year with a 19.5% decrease, coming to only EUR 13.2 billion. The decline is due to the contraction of domestic demand, but above all to the slowdown of foreign markets
The climate of uncertainty on foreign markets and on the domestic market is reflected in the trend of Italian production of agricultural technologies, which is set to close 2024 with a significant decline compared to 2023. The forecasts of the construction association FederUnacoma indicate a 19.5% decline, for a total value of EUR 13.2 billion, or, 3.2 billion less than the previous year. The data relating to the production of mechanical vehicles for agriculture - was explained in Bologna during the press conference for the opening of EIMA International held by FederUnacoma - is taken from the total of the different types of machines. Tractors account for just over EUR 2 billion (-25% compared to 2023), incomplete tractors and spare parts account for around 1 billion (-28.6%), operating machines and equipment represent a value of 6.2 billion (-16.5%), components for 3.3 billion (-17.5%), while gardening and green care machines contribute 700 million, with a decrease on the previous year of 22.2%.
The decline in domestic demand weighed on the contraction in turnover in the first half of the year. The Italian market for technologies for the primary sector - which in 2023 had closed with a 12.9% decrease for tractors and with declines also for other types of vehicles - in the ten months from January to October recorded even more pronounced declines, with registrations of tractors at -14.6%, registrations of combine harvesters at -31.5%, tractors with loading platforms at -18.2%, telescopic handlers at -14,9% and trailers -2.4%. The data relating to the sales of gardening machinery and equipment, processed by Comagarden on the basis of the Morgan survey group and referring to the month of September point out a 1.2% increase, which does not compensate for the strong deficit recorded in the two-year period 2022-2023.
The decline in national production of agricultural machinery was mainly due to the contraction in foreign demand, given the strong propensity of Italian companies to export to global markets. In the first six months of the year - it was explained in a press conference - exports of tractors, tractor parts and other agricultural machinery (excluding data on components and gardening) fell by 9% overall, with a value of EUR 3 billion and 408 million, while maintaining a positive trade balance of 2.2 billion. The United States, France and Germany were once again, in order, the main destination countries for agricultural technologies “made in Italy”, followed by Turkey which ranks fourth. No improvements are expected in the end-of-year budget, as also is shown from the monitoring that the Federation of builders systematically carries out among its associated companies. “In the third quarter of this year,” observed FederUnacoma President Mariateresa Maschio, “70% of the industries in the sector reported a worse turnover trend compared to the same period last year, with a prevalence of companies indicating a decline of between 11% and 20%. According to 60% of the manufacturers surveyed, a reversal of the trend could materialize beginning in the second half of 2025”. “The recovery could be helped by a stabilization of the overall economic picture, but – concluded the president of FederUnacoma – as far as domestic demand is concerned, much depends on the implementation of the incentive system for the purchase of latest-generation agricultural machinery”.
