The general business climate index for the agricultural machinery industry in Europe has continued to drop, thereby reaching the negative range for the first time since the crash in the wake of COVID-19. In July, the index decreased from 1 point to -7 points (on a scale of -100 to +100).
While the manufacturers' supply side has eased further, uncertainties with regard to the market side continue to increase. The direct customers of the manufacturers, the dealers, are apparently not able to pass on their numerous orders to the end customers and have thus slid directly from undersupply to record-high oversupply. According to the survey, the dealer stocks are now in many European markets already higher than in the year 2019, which went down in history due to high dealer stock levels.
Consequently, the current order intake of manufacturers is dropping significantly, especially from Europe, and industry representatives have further downgraded their future expectations.
