AGRICULTURE NEWS - A combination of “unsurprising” factors was creating negative sentiment among buyers, which resulted in the market for tractors and combine harvesters in South Africa not having a good year so far.
This was according to Wandile Sihlobo, head of economic and agribusiness intelligence at Agbiz, who explained that given the “robust sales” in 2018, it was implied that the replacement rate of tractors and combine harvesters would likely be down this year.
“Second, the reduction in summer grain and oilseed plantings, due to unfavourable weather conditions, has also contributed to the poor agricultural machinery sales this year, as this weighs on farmers’ finances.
Lastly, the relatively weaker [exchange rate of the] domestic currency to the US dollar might also have influenced farmers’ purchasing decisions,” he added.
The South African Agricultural Machinery Association (SAAMA) reported that the 364 tractors sold in May were 27,3% less than the 501 units sold in May last year.
This brought year-to-date tractor sales to 2 310 units, or 18,5% less than the 2 836 units sold during the first five months of 2018.
Read the full article here on the Caxton publication, Farmer's Weekly
