The Association of Equipment Manufacturers (AEM) released its 2016 midyear report, which cites data from the Department of Commerce. It shows a 12% overall decrease in sales of American agricultural tractors and combines compared to the first half of 2015, for a total $3.45 billion shipped to global markets.
While overall exports were down, agricultural-equipment purchases from the U.S. by Europe and Central America showed growth. European and Central American sales both increased by 12% for a total of $1.05 billion and $620 million, respectively. The graphic below show the exports of U.S. farm equipment by world region, with exports to Asia dropping the most percentage points.
The countries buying the most U.S.-made agricultural machinery during the first half of 2016 (by dollar volume) were:
- Canada - $1.05 billion, down 17 percent
- Mexico - $557 million, up 14 percent
- Australia - $234 million, down 26 percent
- Germany - $145 million, up 10 percent
- China - $128 million, down 55 percent
- France - $105 million, down 1 percent
- Ukraine - $85 million, up 212 percent
- Brazil - $79 million, down 37 percent
- United Kingdom - $69 million, down 28 percent
- Belgium - $67 million, down 29 percent
AEM’s director of market intelligence, Benjamin Duyck says the decrease in global sales is likely an effect of the increasing value of the U.S. dollar, making U.S. equipment more expensive. “It is important to note that while ag equipment exports might suffer double due to the overall ag downturn, a deterioration in export levels is a nationwide problem. With the global economic malaise, the slowdown in emerging markets and the negative interest rates in several economies’ bond markets, investment is flowing to the U.S. and U.S. stocks, driving up demand for the U.S. dollar, inadvertently affecting our competitiveness abroad.”
Download AEM's reports on construction and agriculture equipment exports here.
