Tractor sales fall 13.4% in January
Tractor sales dropped by 13.4% to 684 units in January‚ compared with 790 units sold in the comparative period a year ago‚ data from the South African Agricultural Machinery Association (Saama) released on Wednesday (6 February) showed.
Despite the lower January sales‚ the market for agricultural machinery continues to be buoyant‚ with market fundamentals still looking good‚ the association said in a statement.
"Weather conditions in the eastern parts of the country have been favourable and summer crops in most of these areas are looking good. In the western parts of the country there are some areas which still need rain in order to realise the full potential of the crops."
Current expectations are that tractor sales in the 2013 will be in the order of 7‚000 units‚ about 10% lower than those for last year.