Stable demand for arable equipment implements
Market volume for tillage equipment, seed drills and fertilizer spreaders in 2013 increased to 3.6 billion euros
Brussels/Frankfurt am Main 21 March 2014 - The European manufacturers of equipment for tillage, seeding, fertilization and crop protection are satisfied with the current business situation. "This year, it is once again possible for the companies to take up the good demand of the past three years", Gerd Wiesendorfer, Coordinator of the three product groups at the European umbrella association CEMA, sums up the current assessment of the industry.
According to first estimates, the market volume for tillage equipment, seed drills, fertilizer spreaders and plant protection equipment in the European Union in 2013 amounted to around €3.6 billion (previous year: €3.3 billion). A stable turnover is expected for 2014.
Europe's leading providers met for their annual CEMA meeting in mid-March at the invitation of the company Väderstad in Sweden. In addition to discussing the European market situation, focus was on provisions from the legislation as well as technical trends and requirements for the machines. There was general consensus among the participants about the currently difficult market conditions in France and Poland, while in other major markets such as Germany, United Kingdom but also in the United States, still a stable order situation prevails.
The required equipment of the machines becomes increasingly differentiated in respect of the region and the customers, so that manufacturers now provide a wide range of fittings. "The general level of technology increases however rapidly, so that in addition to precision by means of GPS and area section control e.g. higher working speeds are possible", says Wiesendorfer.
In regular elections, the chairpersons were elected for the next three years. Rolf Schneider (Kuhn S.A., France) continues to chair the tillage equipment product group; for the group of plant protection equipment manufacturersthe current chairman, Dirk Hollinderbäumer (Lemken GmbH & Co. KG, Germany), was also unanimously re-elected. There is a new chairman for the seed drill and fertilizer spreader product group. In the future the group will be chaired by Massimo Bergo (Maschio Gaspardo S.p.a., Italy). After two terms of office the previous chairman, Jochen Samulowitz (Kverneland Group Soest GmbH, Germany), was no longer standing for re-election by statute. Dr. Ulrich Adam, Secretary General of CEMA, thanked Mr Samulowitz for his dedication and the positive and continuous advancement of the group.
The CEMA product groups are the alliance of the leading European manufacturers in the fields of arable equipment implements, as well as tractors and combine harvesters. The main focus is placed on the joint assessment of the market based on own statistics. Currently, 22 companies from nine European countries are member of the CEMA product groups in the field of arable equipment implements. Prerequisite for participation is the membership in a national industry association, who belongs to the umbrella association CEMA.
