Asia and Central America were in the plus column, while South America and Europe led the declines, according to the Association of Equipment Manufacturers (AEM). The AEM equipment manufacturing trade group cited U.S. Department of Commerce data it uses in global market reports for members.
Exports by world region
January-June 2015 U.S. agricultural equipment exports by major world regions compared with January-June 2014:
- Canada dropped 18 percent, for a total $1.3 billion.
- Europe declined 31 percent, for a total $832 million.
- Central America gained 5 percent, for a total $554 million.
- Asia gained 19 percent, for a total $502 million.
- South America dropped 30 percent, for a total $368 million.
- Australia/Oceania fell 2 percent, for a total $355 million.
- Africa decreased 22 percent, for a total $132 million.
Market analysis overview
AEM’s Benjamin Duyck, director of market intelligence, provides some insights:
The second quarter of 2015 marked the sixth consecutive quarter that U.S. agricultural equipment exports and imports experienced year-over-year declines. This is an interesting difference from the construction equipment exports, which have experienced growth in imports.
A logical explanation may be that the domestic market demand for construction is still stable, while the U.S. farmer lacks resources or incentive to buy new equipment. Looking at specific equipment categories, the only category for which exports grew were components, while exports of dairy or milking machinery remained stable.
We can assume that the lower commodity prices are taking a toll on farmers in other countries as well. Aside from the low commodity prices, a stronger U.S. dollar is plaguing U.S. manufacturers, making them less competitive. In September 2015, the Broad Weighted Trade Index for the U.S. Dollar, provided to us by the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve, had grown 18.2 percent compared with January 2014 and 21.5 percent compared with January 2013.
Exports by top 10 countries
The top countries buying the most U.S.-made agricultural machinery during the first half of 2015 (by dollar volume) were:
- Canada – $1.3 billion, down 18 percent
- Mexico – $487 million, up 10 percent
- Australia – $318 million, down 1 percent
- China – $284 million, up 36 percent
- Germany – $132 million, down 24 percent
- Brazil – $126 million, down 45 percent
- France – $105 million, down 9 percent
- United Kingdom – $95 million, down less than 1 percent
- Belgium – $95 million, up 14 percent
- South Africa - $86 million, down 24 percent
—From Association of Equipment Manufacturers news release
