The general Business Climate Index for the Agricultural Machinery Industry in Europe remains at high level, without any significant changes over the last three months, following some slight downward corrections after its record peak in May and June 2021 (where it reached its highest level since 2008). In February, the index decreased slightly to 53 points (on a scale of -100 to +100).
The volume of orders correspondents currently to a production period of 6.1 months, which is another all-time high ever recorded within this survey - and despite order books at record levels, the manufacturers continue to be faced with a dynamic order intake.
However, with regard to expectations for the coming order intake (an indicator which does not feed into the general Business Climate Index), skepticism has meanwhile spread among industry representatives (more pessimists than optimists for the first time since the end of 2020).
In any case, the greatest challenge for the industry is at present to realize the orders in the face of extreme supply shortages and price increases. After the supply bottlenecks seemed to have moderated slightly last month, now once again more than half of the companies expect a production stop due to the lack of certain parts in the coming month. Even more critical appears the situation for combine harvester and tractor manufacturers, where again two out of three are forced to temporarily stop production in the coming four weeks.
