October tractor sales leap 24.2% y/y to 704 unitsTractor sales surged 24.2% year-on-year in October to 704 units, according to the South African Agricultural Machinery Association (Saama). ©antbphotos via Fotolia "Despite the excellent summer crops, the low crop prices have meant that farmers have not realised the overall income which they might have expected, given the size of the crops. This has meant that, despite the overall market being positive, a lot of caution in equipment purchases is being shown by farmers. These sales will also be affected by the way the summer rainfall season develops. Up to now, rainfall has been quite patchy across these regions," the industry body said. In 2016 the country experienced an 11.3% fall to 5,855 units when drought conditions prevailed in the summer rainfall area. Industry expectations for 2017 are that overall tractor sales should be at least as good as those in 2016. In the first ten months of 2017, tractor sales were up 6.5% year-on-year. Source: BDpro |