Agricultural machinery: as exports to the US plummet, eyes are on new markets
In the first six months of the year, exports of Italian agricultural machinery to the United States decreased by 42.4%. The unfavorable economic situation has led to an overall decline in Italian exports of 10.4%. The Mediterranean market, where Italian industry plays a leading role, is holding steady, while the African market assumes strategic importance.
The climate of uncertainty and market fragmentation that characterize the global economy are reflected in Italian exports, which, after the overall decline recorded in 2024 (-15%), also show negative figures for the first half of this year. ISTAT foreign trade data—released this afternoon in Bari by FederUnacoma, on the eve of Agrilevante—indicates an overall decline in Italian exports of agricultural machinery and equipment of 10.4% in the first half of the year. The decline in the US market was extremely sharp, where Made in Italy technologies were affected by the tariffs and lost 42.4% of their exports in the first half of the year (going from EUR 480 to 276 million). "The current American administration's policies," said FederUnacoma President Mariateresa Maschio, "are severely detrimental to our sector, which last year counted the United States as its primary export market ( accounting for 14% of our total exports), with demand primarily focused on tractors, construction machinery, and specialized crop equipment, as well as irrigation and haymaking equipment". "The new commercial structures," added the President of the Italian manufacturers, "are encouraging our companies to seek outlets in those countries experiencing a developing agricultural economy and therefore encountering growing demand for machinery, such as those in Southeast Asia (Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam, and the Philippines) and those in the Mediterranean region, to which the Agrilevante event is specifically dedicated". The Italian agricultural machinery industry positions itself as a strategic partner for the Mediterranean countries, which, even in a difficult phase for global agricultural mechanization, are showing great resilience: despite a 10.4% decline in overall Italian exports, the Mediterranean region saw a much more limited decline (-3%), while Italy maintained significant market shares throughout the region. Italy is currently the main supplier of agricultural machinery to Albania, Greece, Turkey, Israel, and Tunisia, and the second largest to France, Slovenia, Bulgaria, Jordan, Lebanon, Algeria, Libya, and Morocco. Italy also ranks third in supplies to Spain, Hungary, Croatia, and Serbia. Between 2021 and 2024, the value of Italian exports to the Mediterranean region grew by 15%, from EUR 1.93 to 2.21 billion, accounting for 36.2% of the total value of exports in the sector. While the Mediterranean region appears promising overall, North Africa and sub-Saharan Africa appear even more promising. These regions have enormous potential and are expected to experience growing demand for technology in the coming years. The African continent is in fact experiencing impressive demographic growth (in 2050 it will have approximately 2.5 billion inhabitants) and is already unable to ensure food security for its population (Africa has imported food worth approximately USD 35 billion a year in recent years, but the value of imports is expected to jump to 110 billion by the end of 2025. "In the near future, demand for food will also grow in qualitative terms, due to the progressive emergence of a middle class with more advanced consumption styles and greater spending power," Mariateresa Maschio concluded. "And mechanization is required not only to increase productivity, preserve natural resources, and optimize water consumption, but also to streamline the entire supply chain, including transport, preservation, and initial processing of products.
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