The Month of June has seen tractor sales steady somewhat in the face of continuing climate challenges and general conservative sentiment from our farmers. There were around 1,300 tractors sold for the month which is down about 4% on the same month last year and are now 10% behind for the year to date.
Reports coming from suppliers suggest that the month began slowly however with the rains that hit much of Southeastern Australia from the middle of the month onwards, indicators are that sentiment improved and there’s every hope that this will extend into the new financial year.
There’s no doubt that challenges exist in the market with pricing is still high off the back of supply challenges experienced in the past few years. This is being offset by interest rate deals being offered by many suppliers however, farmers are still playing a wait and see game before making purchases. Inventory levels, which have been reported previously as being very high are starting to come down and is hopeful that this will lead to improved financial conditions for our dealers
Looking around the states one can see the impact of the drought in the southeast corner with the states of Victoria, Tasmania and South Australia recording significant reductions in the month of June compared to the same month last year. Victoria was down 21% and is now 20% behind year to date. South Australia was down 30% and remains 21% behind year to date and Tassie was also behind 21% for the month of June. Queensland reported a healthy lift, up 13% on the same month last year and now sits 6% behind year to date. NSW was behind 1.5% and remains 9% off compared to the same time last year and Western Australia, the standout for the year, was 14% up and remains 2% up for the year. NT sales dropped 10% for the month.
We saw a lift in demand for 40-100 (30-75kw) horsepower tractors which are up 1.5% for the month but remain 5% below year to date along with the 200 (150kw) horsepower and above size range which was up 6% but is 20% behind year to date. Sales in the under 40 hp (30kw) range were down 11%, now 5% behind year to date and the 100 to 200 hp range was down 9% and remains down 13% on a year-to-date basis.
Sales of Combine Harvesters remain challenging and it’s clear that the market is well stocked for machines at this stage. Sales are up 2.5% on last year but order intake suggests that a number well down on last years to be expected
Sales of Balers were again down for the month although there seems to be an improvement in sentiment with the recent rains suggesting that there could be some better news coming with sales down 33% compared to the same time last year and finally, sales Out Front Mowers enjoyed a bounce of 8% for the month but still remain 27% behind ytd.