Imports of agricultural machinery increase 41,5% this year

The Brazilian Association of the Machinery and Equipment Industry (Abimaq) released this week a survey of Situational Indicators for July, in which it indicated yet another drop in net revenue from sales of machinery and equipment, maintaining the pace of decline observed since 2022.

From January to July this year, revenues from the domestic market accumulated a drop of 13,8% which, according to Abimaq, is attributed to the worsening in this public's activities.

Import

Although the domestic market is relatively weaker, the month of July saw an increase in imports of machinery and equipment, both in relation to June of this year (2,4%) and in relation to July of the previous year (15,8% ).

In 2023, the biggest growth in machinery imports was observed in sectors related to agriculture (41,5%), logistics and construction (18,2%), and consumer goods industry (16,6%).

Exports

The number of exports was maintained from January to July this year, despite the slowdown in the global market and the appreciation of the Brazilian currency against the dollar. There was growth of 18,6% in Dollars or 9,6% in Reais, which now represents 24% of the sector's total revenue.

In the same period of 2022, exports corresponded to less than 20% of total net revenue from machinery and equipment.

In July this year, there was an increase in both quantity (5,5%) and prices (11,4%), in the interannual comparison. Thus, the machinery and equipment manufacturing sector exported US$ 1,170 billion in the seventh month of the year, representing an increase of 16,7% compared to July last year (US$ 1,0 billion). An improvement that sustained growth in the year.

Exports of agricultural machinery falling

While total exports by the national machinery industry for the logistics and civil construction segments, last July, were 32%, showing a growth of 25,8% over the result of the same previous month; the agricultural machinery sector fell 7,3% and the consumer goods sector fell 12,9% in the same period.

Agriculture: Internal market

The Abimaq team spoke to the National Agriculture Society (SNA), that despite there being an expectation of growth in the agricultural machinery market in Brazil, as a result of consecutive record grain harvests and the announcement of the Safra Plan, the results came contrary to expectations.

“In the first quarter there was super growth in agricultural GDP, but the machinery sector for this sector is accumulating a 20% drop. It turns out that there is a lot of investment held back. We were hoping that with the launch of the Safra Plan there would be a recovery of these investments, but, for now, it has not yet materialized. We foresee an improvement, but we should end this year with a decline.”

Main origins of imports

China, USA, Germany and Italy lead the ranking among the main origins of imports. China, despite having recorded a drop in the share of national imports of machinery and equipment, from 28% in 2022 to 24,3% in 2023, remained the main origin of imports. Of the US$3,8 billion worth of machines imported from China, the majority are the acquisition of components (30%) and machines for logistics and construction (25%).