Farm machine market set to grow by 2%

The value of Thailand’s agricultural machine market is expected to grow by 1-2% year-on-year to 70 billion baht in 2024 despite high levels of household debt and the sagging economy, says farm truck maker Siam Kubota Corporation.
This projection does not account for recent severe flooding, which has ravaged more than 900,000 rai of land.
The company is monitoring the floods to see how they affect the agricultural machine market, farmers and Siam Kubota dealers, said Phisanu Milintanuch, executive vice-president and general manager for sales, marketing and services at Siam Kubota.
He said the 1-2% growth prospect is based on higher prices of farm produce, following the impact of the drought season which caused a shortage of agricultural products.
“The increase in crop prices buoyed farmers’ purchasing power, enabling them to buy new machines for their farms,” said Mr Phisanu.
Yet Thais are still struggling to deal with high household debt, which has caused banks to tighten their lending criteria to avoid non-performing loans.
From January to August this year, Siam Kubota saw its revenue increase by 13% year-on-year to 40 billion baht, comprising 29 billion baht from sales in the domestic market and 11 billion baht from exports.
The company expects to earn a total of 60 billion baht this year, driven by sales of drones for agricultural purposes.
Drones currently make up 5% of total sales. More farmers are using drones for spraying work, which allows them to save time and deal with a labour shortage.
According to Siam Kubota, tractors represent 60% of total sales, followed by harvesters (15%), excavators (10%) and diesel engines (10%).
Thailand’s agricultural drone market is currently worth 2.8 billion baht, and Siam Kubota has a market share of 38% in this segment, said Mr Phisanu.
The company is planning to extend its customer base after finding that 65% of its new customers are from the Gen Y and Z generations, aged 20-43. This underscores a growing acceptance and enthusiasm for farming technology among younger generations.
Siam Kubota has 570,000 Thai farmers as customers.