The 2023 Year has now begun with a sizeable dip in Tractor Sales after what was a hectic end to 2022. Sales were down 25% on the same month last year as dealers dealt with inclement weather events along the east coast combined 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.
All states except for the Northern Territory, experienced a decline in sales for the month. Queensland was down 11%, NSW down 23% and Victoria recorded a drop up 34%.
Sales in Western Australia were down a mammoth 37%, South Australia recorded a 34% decline and Tasmania was off 24% for the month with sales in the NT finishing 36% ahead.
Not surprisingly, all machine categories were down this month with the small under 40 hp (30kw) category, down 4%, the 40 to 100hp (30-75kw) range was down 24% in the month and the 100 to 200hp (75-150 kw) category was also down, this time by 36%
Sales in the large 200 hp (150kw) PLUS range took a massive hit to be off 55% on the same month last year.
Sales of Combine Harvesters remained strong in January supplying the back end of this year’s harvest with a further 27 units being delivered in the month
Baler sales enjoyed a 10% rise compared to the same month last year and, sales of Out – Front Mowers continued their downward trend, off by 21% this month.
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. 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.
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 3 to 5 year purchasing cycles. Given that the current boom conditions begun over 2 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 2021,22 but are expecting a “soft landing” for the industry.
Finally, we have announced details for the annual TMA conference which will be held this year in Sydney on Wednesday July 19th at the Stamford Plaza, Sydney Airport. Ticketing and event information will be available on our website www.tma.asn.au as we look forward to another great event.