Spanish exports of agricultural machinery grow in 2019

Spanish exports of agricultural machinery and components experienced a growth of 8.92% in the first nine months of the year compared to the same period of the previous year. These are “very good and reassuring” data, according to the Spanish Association of Manufacturers-Exporters of Agricultural Machinery and its Components, Greenhouses, Crop Protection, Irrigation Systems, Livestock Equipment, Animal Health and Nutrition, Forest Machinery, Biomass and Post-harvest (AGRAGEX).

The stability of European markets, especially German and French, and the “consistent” growth of African -Morocco, especially- and South American, have been the keys that have allowed us to cope with the bad behavior of exports to the continent Asian and that positive figures are recorded at the end of the year.

In fact, from the Association they trust that 2019 will close with a value of Spanish agricultural machinery exports close to 2,500 million euros. Of these, 1,300 will correspond to shipments to the European continent, 550 to Africa, 400 to Latin America, 120 to Asia and 25 to Oceania.

A second semester “difficult to explain”

The behavior of exports during the second half of the year is “difficult to explain and there are innumerable interpretations,” says AGRAGEX director Jaime Hernani.

“On the one hand, companies agree on the fact that, in September, the market did not start after the traditional holiday stop. The market is erratic and we can confirm it after returning from Hannover (Agritechnica fair), where the visits were lower, although of quality ”.

Hernani refers to the weakness of the German economy and the slight but harmless improvement of the French. In addition, hesitations in the United Kingdom around Brexit continue to “bother the markets,” as does the trade war between China and the US. UU., That “has managed to create a total uncertainty in the economic and financial world”.

AGRAGEX 2019 road map is perfectly fulfilled

The Association values ​​positively the full compliance of the plan planned for this 2019, except for the commercial mission to Sudan, postponed until 2020 for security reasons.

“The activities of our partners and the agricultural sector in general in the field of internationalization in these last months of 2019 can be considered satisfactory, if not excellent in its execution,” says Jaime Hernani.

It is worth mentioning the high number of companies that decided to travel, through AGRAGEX, to the different trade fairs and missions, as well as the positive results of these visits both from the point of view of sales and the opening of new markets.

In the last three months, four trade missions served to visit countries such as Egypt, Japan, Iran, Qatar, Senegal and Ghana. On the other hand, there was a Spanish presence in fairs in Algeria, France, Peru (twice), Germany, Mexico and Turkey; and three personalized services were carried out in Kazakhstan, Romania and Nigeria.

AGRAGEX is already preparing its 2020 roadmap, which will include presence at fairs in Paris, Bologna, Hannover, Amsterdam, Mexico, Berlin, California, Cape Town or Ho Chi Minh City.

But, without a doubt, the “star activity” for AGRAGEX of the year that is about to begin will be the XVII Conference of Foreign Buyers, which will be held on February 23 and 24 in Zaragoza, within the framework of the International Machinery Fair Agricultural (FIMA). More than 70 importers and distributors from the agricultural sector can meet with AGRAGEX partner companies to explore commercial possibilities. “In addition, we will continue to open barriers in almost unexplored markets for our companies such as Iraq, Uganda or Rwanda,” adds Hernani.

The director of AGRAGEX emphasizes that “the health of the Spanish exports of the agricultural sector is good and, although years of uncertainty are coming, we want to encourage Spanish companies to continue exporting, to go beyond our borders. It is a difficult and laborious task, but AGRAGEX will be easier. 108 companies have been relying on this Association for many years. ”