County Cork Has Highest Volume of New Tractor Registrations
The latest FTMTA Statistics Service Report for March 2024 shows a reduced level of activity in the farm machinery sector in Ireland with new tractor and telescopic loader registrations continuing on a downward trend. The numbers of imported used tractors and machines, registered for the first time in Ireland, decreased compared with the same month of March 2023.
Tractors
The March 2024 new tractor market at 216 units was 13% lower compared with the same month in 2023. The year-to-date figures are 8% lower than the same period in 2023 with 878 new tractors registered in the Republic of Ireland in March 2023, compared with 959 units in 2023.
County Cork continues to deliver the highest number of new tractor registrations at 129 units for the year-to-date, while Tipperary is ranked in second place with 81 units followed by Meath at 50 units.
The most popular power band moves to the 161 to 200hp category, which for March 2024 accounted for 21.7% of all new tractor registrations. Tractors in the power band lower than 100hp now account for 10.65% of all new tractor registrations, slightly higher than for the same month in 2023. The over 200hp category now accounts for 12.03% of all new tractors. The monthly average tractor horsepower figure for March 2024 was 145hp.
The FTMTA data shows that 245 imported used tractors were first-time registered in Ireland in March 2024, 59 units less than in February 2023. For the year to date, 672 used tractors were imported and registered for the first time, an 18.9% decline.
Telescopic Loaders
The Irish market for new telescopic loaders reported a marginal decline in March 2024 at 57 units. The latest FTMTA data shows new telescopic registrations decreased in March 2024 by 1.7% compared with March 2023 when 58 units were registered. The year-to-date market shows a 3.7% increase in registrations. There were 53 imported used telescopic loaders registered in March 2024.
Wheeled Loaders
The Irish wheeled loader market recorded a lower number of new registrations in March 2024 at 16 units, compared with February 2023, while the year-to-date market decreased by 31.25%. The market dominance of the smaller Chinese manufactured machines at the lower price and power end of the market for farmers remains strong and now accounts for over 59% of the new wheeled loader registrations in Ireland. There were 7 imported used wheeled loaders registered in March 2024.
Backhoe Loaders
The Irish backhoe loader market improved again in March 2024 compared with March 2023 with 7 new machines, which converts to a 75% increase. There were 5 used backhoe loaders registered in March 2024 in Ireland.
