Production costs hold back the garden market

The increase in the costs of raw materials is holding back the market for green machinery and equipment, which however remains at high levels. The data, released by Comagarden as part of the DemoGreen event, held on 16 and 17 September in Segrate (Milan), show a decline in sales of 13.6% for the first six months of 2022. The decline - explained Renato Cifarelli, Comagarden president - depends in part on a physiological adjustment of the sector, after the boom of 2021, and in part on the lack of machinery due to the slowdown in production rates. But what weighs above all is the increase in production costs: the strong increases in gas prices (+ 371%), brent (+ 47%), plastics (+ 20%), with the consequent rise in the prices of mechanical means, are reducing the propensity to buy. In addition, the long period of extreme heat, which lasted throughout the summer with the resulting drought, slowed down the vegetative activity of the plants and therefore reduced the demand for maintenance machinery.
According to Comagarden, by the end of the year the sales will loose 10.6%, reaching a total number of machines of approximately 1,480,000 units.