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Business climate stable at a high level

Online since 14-12-2017

According to the CEMA Business Barometer for December 2017, the business climate is stable at a high level.

The general business climate index of the agricultural machinery industry in Europe keeps with only little changes on high level. The evaluation of the current business has further improved, while the future expectations are no longer as high as in the last months. The order intake is currently strong, but will not further increase. Altogether, the forecasts of the European industry remain very positive: In December, there are still 84% of the companies expecting their total turnover to grow in 2018 (vs. 94% in September). 
The breakdown by segment shows that business climate for tractors has recovered after the slump in the previous month, but both future and current business evaluation are still quite below the industry average. Within the arable equipment segment, turnover expectations have slipped below the current business evaluation, which may signal a market reversal. The manufacturers of livestock equipment seem meanwhile, still little worried about any prospects of lower milk prices.
The regional breakdown shows once again for each single European market a majority of survey participants expecting turnover increases in the next six months. By far the best rating has achieved Poland, which is in the midst of a strong upswing. Germany and France are now also in the upper part of the country ranking, however, if considering only tractors, arable and harvesting equipment, they are rather midfield (especially France). At the bottom ends up again the drought affected Spanish market. On a global level, the highest growth potential is seen in Central and South Asia, followed by Oceania. 

Read the full public report here

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