The general business climate index for the agricultural machinery industry in Europe has stabilized at a positive level after its sharp declines in the course of the Russian war against Ukraine. In August, the index continues at 18 points (on a scale of -100 to +100).
The volume of orders still corresponds to a production period of 5.9 months, which is just slightly below the all-time high ever recorded within this survey. While the order intake has cooled down noticeably in recent months (from a very high level), price increases and bottlenecks on the supplier side continue to challenge the industry, although some easing is observable. Currently, 34% of the companies are planning a temporarily production stop due to shortages in the coming four weeks.
The regional breakdown shows decreasing confidence levels for some European markets, especially for Spain. However, the overall market outlook remains robust for the time being, particularly for the two large markets of Germany and France.
