Spanish Agricultural Stability Returns
Spain’s Ministerio de Agriculture, Pesca y Alimentation issues monthly reports on new agricultural equipment registrations in a detail that few other nations deliver.
Spanish Agricultural Equipment Sales Suggest Return to Stability
The detail arises from the fact that Spain requires all equipment to be registered, whether motorised or trailered. This enables analysts of the sector to monitor changes in the market from month to month, year to year. Undoubtably a useful tool for the agricultural supply sector, and a useful indicator of economic activity.
However, statistics can be deceiving. A scan of the percentage changes in the year to December 22, shows a lot of drops in registrations – Tractors down by 11.31 per cent over the year; equipment for carrying liquids and fertilisers down by 23.8 per cent in the same period. However, percentages don’t tell the whole story, for we can see that tractor-trailers showed a 200 per cent increase. Then you look and see that only two units had been sold as opposed to none in the previous year.
The bigger picture can only really be seen by looking at the total sales for the sector, and in the year to December , there was an overall drop of 10.36 per cent in all agricultural sales – a reduction of some 3,602 pieces of equipment sold compared to the previous year. However, this may well just be a market settlement after the post pandemic boost to sales in 2021.
So, to January 2023, and here we can see the market showing a slight recovery with total items registered increasing compared to January 2022, by 144 units, an increase of 6.73 per cent. However, tractor sales were down, motorised equipment was down 8.97 per cent. The investment appears to have been in specialist equipment such as harvesters, with a considerable percentage increase in non-motorised harvesting equipment, up by 61 units in January alone. Interestingly “Other” equipment, both motorised and trailered saw increased sales percentage-wise, though of just 15 and 247 units respectively.
Sales were naturally stronger in the agricultural areas of Andalucía, Castilla – La Mancha and Castilla y Leon.