The general business climate index for the agricultural machinery industry in Europe has shown its strongest improvement since the sharp declines in the course of the Russian war against Ukraine. In November, the index increased from 12 to 23 points (on a scale of -100 to +100).
The volume of orders corresponds currently to a production period of 6.8 months, which is another all-time high ever recorded within this survey. Despite order books at record levels, manufacturers have been still faced with a dynamic order intake, especially in September. At the same time, price increases and bottlenecks on the supplier side continue to challenge the industry, but some slight easing is observable, so that manufacturers are increasingly able to realize their orders.
The manufacturers' turnover is therefore expected to remain at a high level for the coming six months at least. With regard to expectations for the coming order intake (an indicator which does not feed into the general Business Climate Index), by contrast, skepticism has solidified among industry representatives.
