The South African Agricultural Machinery Association believes tractor sales will go up this year and that follows positive sales of agricultural machinery in the past few years.
SAAMA hopes to see sales going over 8 000 units in 2022 and chairperson Tallie Giessing said similarly the sale of combine harvesters were also improving.
He also said indications were that over 300 units would be sold this year as per a report carried by Independent Media.
Giessing’s sentiments come on the back of sales registered in July where tractor sales of 780 units were significantly (almost 32 percent) more than the 592 units sold in July last year.
Year-to-date, tractor sales were now almost 20 percent up on last year meaning 36 combine harvesters were sold in July, 28 units more than the 8 units sold in July last year.
“This will serve them in good stead in future years. However, longer lead times and stock availability mean that farmers will need to plan ahead on their purchases so that the equipment will be available when required,” said Giessing.
According to Agricultural Business Chamber chief economist Wandile Sihlobo’s views, he expressed doubts in July about the outlook for the sector.
“In addition to the core challenges, we mentioned above, three major factors could slow agricultural machinery sales in the second half of the year,” he said.
“First, the higher farm input costs, such as fertilisers, fuel, and agrochemicals, and increasing interest rates could weigh heavily on farmers’ finances in the coming months.
“Second, the strong agricultural machinery sales in 2020 and 2021 could lead to a lower replacement rate this year. South Africa’s tractor sales for 2021 amounted to 7 680 units, up 26 percent from the previous year. Combine harvester sales amounted to 268 units in the same period, up by 46 percent from 2020.”
Furthermore, 2020 was also an excellent year for South Africa’s agricultural machinery sales, it was so surpassing and meant 2021 was exceptional. In 2020, tractor sales were up by 9 percent from 2019.
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