Tractor sales dip in January

New tractor sales were off to a mellow start following several months of stellar results, with January sales down 25 per cent year on year, according to the Tractor and Machinery Association of Australia (TMA).

The organisation attributes that mainly to dealers facing inclement weather events and having to deal with the demands of a bumper harvest season.

“Overwhelmingly though, dealers are reporting that the market largely took a well-earned holiday in January with many reporting that some customers opted not to take delivery during the month and staff at branches were encouraged to take a Xmas break,” said TMA executive director, Gary Northover.

All states except for the Northern Territory experienced a decline in sales for the month. Queensland was down 11 per cent, NSW down 23 per cent and Victoria recorded a drop of 34 per cent.

Sales in Western Australia were down a whopping 37 per cent while South Australia recorded a 34 per cent decline.

Tasmania was off 24 per cent for the month while sales in the NT finished 36 per cent ahead.

Not surprisingly, all horsepower categories were down this month with the small under 40hp category down four per cent while the 40 to 100hp range was down 24 per cent.

The 100 to 200hp category was also down, this time by 36 per cent.

Sales in the large 200hp-plus range took a massive hit to be 55 per cent down on the same month last year.  

On the other hand, sales of combine harvesters remained strong in January on the back end of this year’s harvest with a further 27 units being delivered in the month.

Baler sales enjoyed a 10 per cent rise compared to the same month last year but out-front mowers continued to trend downwards, falling 21 per cent behind this time last year.

“Despite the slow start to the year, the outlook for 2023 remains positive, particularly for the first half leading up to the conclusion of the Temporary Full Expensing Program which ends in June,” Northover said.

“Supply of machines is showing some signs of improvement and hopefully, a levelling out of prices as most of the supply chain issues are resolved.”

Northover said the industry is expecting the machinery boom which started over two years ago to wind down soon.

“It is worth noting that much of the market for agricultural machinery in Australia is now in the hands of ‘corporate’ and professional owners who tend to manage their machinery fleets based on three- to five-year purchasing cycles,” he said.

“Given that the current boom conditions began over two years ago, we expect that there will be a steady demand for machinery once this peak has passed.

“In other words, we do anticipate some pullback from the lofty heights of 2021 and 2022 but are expecting a ‘soft landing’ for the industry.”

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