Steel price fears

THE EU farm machinery industry fears price rises of up to 50% for steel, and will petition member state governments to discourage the export of vast quantities of scrap metal from Europe, which are said to have a major impact on the cost of manufacturing raw steel.

At the recent meeting of CLIMMAR, the European dealers association warned that they be charged higher prices for machines at delivery than were quoted when deals were agreed. Dealers expect it will be difficult to pass on the increases to their customers. The Italian group has called on its government to offer a form of machine scrappage scheme similar to the tractor scrappage scheme it ran some years ago. This would provide more scrap metal for the market in an effort to bring down prices.