It was nice to see two trade exhibitions taking place in England during the last two weeks.
The first event was BIGGA’s Festival of Turf, which took place outdoors at the Warwickshire Event Centre on the 21st and 22nd of July. The organisers couldn’t have asked for better weather, though this may have been a factor in a smaller attendance than expected. I hope that the machinery stands were busy showcasing what they had on offer to those that were there. Three days earlier international non essential travel restrictions had just lifted in Ireland, so I would be interested to know how many Irish visitors attended the event.
The second exhibition took place the following week. This was the Sports And Grounds Expo (SAGE) and this took place from the 27th – 29th of July at The Three Counties Showground in Worcester. I hope that more events like these will follow, especially in Ireland, where people in our industry can meet face to face once more.
I heard in the news recently that the price of second hand cars has increased in recent weeks. If you bought a second hand car a year ago, chances are that it is worth more today. This was unheard of before. Apparently, the reason for this is mainly down to the global shortage of electronic chip supplies. This affects the production and supply of new electronic equipment, including cars and even farm tractors and equipment. The reason why the massive shortage of electronic chips happened is because, at the beginning of the pandemic, manufacturing factories shut down and the supply of microchips decreased.
The companies that were able to keep producing microchips were not manufacturing as much, because they were afraid that people wouldn’t buy them, and the products that use them. However, as individuals began working from home and children were getting new video games, the demand for microchips began to increase.
While farm equipment makers require far fewer chips than automakers, the drive to make their machines smarter has also made them susceptible to chip supply shocks. The situation is worse in America where some dealers have fewer new tractors on display in their showrooms. They are turning to virtual showrooms instead. The increase in raw material prices and shipping costs doesn’t help matters either.
This situation is seen to continue into early 2022. Despite the shortage of supplies, sales of tractors so far this year have increased. The European Agricultural Machinery Association’s (CEMA) monthly Business Climate Index show that tractor sales this year reached their peak in May and June, the highest level since 2008. However the July figures show a slight decrease in sales. According to CEMA, more than 90% of the companies participating in the index survey complained about supply bottlenecks. 36% of the respondents from the tractor factories expect a production stop due to a lack of certain parts in the coming months.
We have to wait and see what happens.
