MILWAUKEE, Wis. — The latest global business climate index from the Agrievolution Alliance indicates that the majority of agricultural equipment manufacturers in the survey remain pessimistic about the sector.

The index shows a slight decline of 3 points from the group’s April report; only manufacturers in China and India are in a remarkably good mood, according to the Alliance’s latest Agritech Business Barometer Survey.

Agrievolution Alliance is a global network of the leading agricultural machinery associations representing more than 6,000 equipment manufacturers worldwide; it produces the survey in the spring and fall each year.

The Assn. of Equipment Manufacturers (AEM) serves as Alliance secretariat.

The survey results show that there is no clear future trend, at least not on a global scale. For example, compared to previous surveys, future expectations are further improved in Western Europe, but have declined sharply in Turkey.

In other findings of the latest Agritech Business Barometer Survey:

• Taking new orders as future indicators, there is even less of a positive outlook. Nearly 50% of the global ag machinery industry states that in the past 3 months, the volume of incoming orders in their domestic markets decreased compared to the same period a year ago.
• On a global basis, 19% of ag machinery companies rate their business as “good,” while 34% describe it as unfavorable. Especially in North and South America, namely the U.S. and Brazil, current demand remains weak.
• Brazil was the worst in terms of sales revenue in the last 3 months, followed by the U.S. Countries reporting the best sales revenue were Russia, China and India.
• Regarding government support, the Russian and Chinese survey participants were the most satisfied, while the Brazilians and Turks considered government support as very negative.
• The general mood of farmers is worse than in previous surveys due to lower commodity prices and thus profitability. This might not change in the short-term and will instead slow down demand for new machines.

The Alliance produces a public version of its report, available at www.aem.org in Market Intelligence/Global Markets Resources. Alliance member associations provide a more detailed report to their member companies participating in the survey.

About the Agrievolution Alliance 
The Alliance is comprised of 13 organizations representing more than 6,000 agriculture equipment manufacturers worldwide. Its mission is to share data, create awareness, exert influence, facilitate collaboration and offer guidance and perspective on current global industry issues and future challenges. Alliance members include: ABIMAQ (Brazil), AEA (UK), AEM (U.S.), AXEMA (France), CAMDA (China), CEMA (EU), FEDERUNACOMA (Italy), FICCI (India), JAMMA (Japan), KAMICO (Korea), Rosagromash (Russia), TARMAKBIR (Turkey) and VDMA (Germany).