The ‘general business (climate) index’ of the agricultural machinery industry in Europe has “continued to deteriorate significantly”.

That’s according to CEMA – the association that represents European (agricultural) machinery manufacturers.

In a statement to its members, it said: “While [the negative index] had previously been primarily due to future expectations, current business [activity] also seems to be affected.

“Industry representatives have confirmed [in the latest survey] that incoming orders, both from the EU and from outside the EU, decreased in the last month. The high order volume, as seen in the last survey, based on the strong order intake in the previous months is thus diminishing.”

The statement went on to say: “For the first time since 2016, there is now a majority of survey participants expecting turnover declines from most European markets in the coming six months.

“France, Spain, Italy, Switzerland and the CIS countries remain as positive exceptions.

“The further development of the general business climate might, among other factors, depend on whether growth rates in these markets can be maintained beyond the next six months.

Data source: CEMA / [email protected]

“In fact, the industry remains surprisingly positive with regard to the year as a whole. On average, companies still expect an increase of 3% for the whole of 2019.”

Last month, we reported that the ‘general business index’ across the farm machinery industry in Europe had “deteriorated significantly for the first time since the autumn”.

Also Read: ‘A significant slowdown in incoming orders is expected’ – CEMA

At that time, CEMA said that current business was still “maintaining its stability”, but that future expectations had “dropped as sharply as they last did in May 2016”.

Where does the data come from?

This data comes from CEMA’s Business Barometer. It’s a monthly survey of representatives from the European agricultural machinery manufacturing industry; it’s been running since 2008.

The survey covers most major equipment sectors – from tractors to municipal equipment. The target group (of respondents) comprises 140 senior managers from nine countries.