The general business environment index of the monthly Barometer, which is one of the important indicators for the European agricultural machinery industry points out that the recent upward tendency of the overall business climate index for the agricultural machinery industry in Europe has let up after its first significant uptrend since the sharp declines in the course of the Russian war against Ukraine and the index fell from 36 to 24 points (from -100 to +100) in March. However, it remains still at a relatively good level.
The decrease is mainly based on a less positive evaluation of the current business situation. One in five companies reported that their business was not running well. Apart from that, French industrialists are more pessimistic about their current business. Survey results show that 40% of European companies expect a decrease in new orders over the next six months, and only 16% predict further increases. However, 5% of companies surveyed expected a decrease in turnover, while a clear majority of 85% maintained their expectation of growth or at least a stable trend.
The regional breakdown on the market side indicates that some of the large markets such as Germany, France and Italy are losing some momentum. The representatives of the European industry look nonetheless forward with confidence to the full year of 2023: the survey participants expect for their company on average still an increase in turnover of +5%.
