Poland - Agricultural Machinery and Equipment Poland-Agricultural Machinery

Sub-sector best prospects: Include the sub-sectors in which U.S. companies would have the best opportunity of exporting.

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Last Published: 8/1/2018

 Overview

 

	2015	2016	2017	2018      Estimated
Total Exports	1,690,317	1,699,948	1,926,040	1,922,084
Total Imports	2,465,127	2,310,513	2,612,178	2,874,998
Imports from the U.S.	45,895	30,071	30,637	42,361
Exchange Rates	1USD=3.77PLN	1USD=3.94PLN	1USD=3.77PLN	1USD=3.45PLN

In USD thousands
Source of export/import statistics:  Global Trade Atlas (GUS Customs Poland data)
 
The statistical export/import data include the following HS product codes:  
Poland’s import of agricultural machinery and equipment reached USD 2.6 billion in 2017 and exceeded exports by 35%.  After a decline in 2016, imports rose by USD 302 million in 2017. The major reason for the decrease in 2016 was the exhaustion of support funds available for farmers from the Development of Rural Areas Program (PROW) in the years 2007 – 2013, and postponement in activation of PROW modernization programs for the following years.  Adverse situations on the milk and pork markets caused an additional decrease in investments by Polish farmers.  In 2017, the new PROW program for 2014-2020 began to pay delayed and new direct subsidies to farmers.   In addition, in 2017, milk prices grew and the situation on the milk market stabilized.  The major agricultural equipment products imported in to Poland  in 2017 included: tractors (USD 1.9 billion) – mainly imported from the Netherlands (USD 638 million), Germany (USD 374 million), Belgium (USD 323 million) and Sweden (USD 123 million);  harvesting and threshing machinery (USD 405 million, including USD 81 million of combine harvesters and threshers) imported mainly from Germany, Belgium and France; parts for harvesting machinery and mowers (USD 119 million) imported from Germany, Belgium and France; mowers (USD 96 million) – imported from China, the U.S. and Austria; machinery for soil preparation and cultivation (USD 38.5 million) – Finland, Germany and Sweden; ag and forestry germination, bee-keeping machinery and parts (USD 37 million) -  Germany and Sweden; harrows, scarifiers, hoes (USD 34 million) – Germany, China, France; poultry-keeping machinery and incubators and parts (USD 27 million) – Germany, the Netherlands and the U.S.; seeders and planters (USD 21 million); trailers for agriculture (USD 17.5 million) - Germany, Belgium, Estonia; fertilizer distributors (USD 16 million) – Germany, the Netherlands and France.
Poland’s imports of agricultural machinery and equipment from the U.S. reached USD 29.3 million in 2017 and stayed at the level comparable to 2016.  Imports from the U.S. constituted 1.1% of Poland’s total imports in this category. The declining trend in import from the U.S. in the years2014 – 2015 reflected the general trend of a decrease in Poland’s imports of agricultural equipment that resulted from a lack of active EU rural development support funds available to Polish farmers and weak prices for milk and pork.  In 2017, the situation stabilized and according to estimates based on first quarter of 2018 data, imports from the U.S. will rise to42.4 million in 2018. Major equipment imported from the U.S. in 2017 included: tractors (USD 5.5 million), poultry-keeping machinery and parts (USD 3.6 million), parts for harvesting and threshing machinery (USD 3.6 million), and agricultural sprayers and dispensers (USD 1.3 million).
Poland’s major agricultural machinery exports in 2017 were: tractors (USD 836 million) – with leading export countries of Russia and the Netherlands; combine harvesters and harvesting machinery and parts (USD 356 million) – Ukraine, Turkey, Germany; trailers for agricultural purposes (USD 89 million) – Germany, Belgium, Czech Republic; parts for soil cultivation machinery (USD 71 million) – Germany, France and Ukraine; harrows, scarifiers, hoes (USD 40 million); machinery for soil cultivation (USD 33 million) and disc harrows (USD 21 million).
The Polish market for agricultural tractors is fairy competitive, with major international players being directly present and fighting for their market share. The sales of new tractors reached 10,850 units in2017, with the following brands being in the lead: New Holland (1,581), John Deere (1,290), Zetor (1,199), Deutz Fahr (1,091), Kubota (1076), Ursus (955), and Case IH (727.  Local tractor manufacturers include Pronar, Farmer, Ursus, Farmtrac and Crystal Traktor.  Polish companies produced 2935 agricultural tractors in 2016.  CNH Global has made equity investments in Poland and developed production capacity for combine harvesters/threshers and parts, round balers, and wrapping machines.  Other machinery produced in Poland include: tractor carried mowers, tractor-mounted sprayers, agricultural trailers, cultivators, ploughs, scarifiers, ploughs, rotovators, distributors of mineral fertilizers, disc harrows, potato planters and field seeders.  Almost 95% of agricultural trailers sold in Poland are provided by local manufacturers.

Leading Sub-Sectors

• Poultry-keeping machinery

• Crops cultivating equipment
• Tractors and agricultural trailers

 Opportunities

Polish agriculture accounts for 2.6% of Poland’s GDP, and has relatively low productivity and is fragmented. There are 1.4 million farms in Poland and the average size of a Polish farm is about 10 ha.  Most Polish farms are less than 2 ha, and there are only 1,000 farms larger than 500 ha.  The structure of Polish farms is changing, and the number of farms larger than 30 ha is growing. The country’s ag economy is making on-going progress toward larger-scale commercial production and greater productivity, shifting away from subsistence agriculture and labor-intensive farming. 
Poland is a significant European producer of a diverse range of agricultural products. The country is the EU’s largest producer of poultry and apples, second-largest grower of potatoes (after Germany) and ranks third in sugar beets, rapeseed and pork.  Other major crops include wheat, rye, triticale, oats, cruciferous vegetables, carrots, onions, and cherries.  Wheat is the country’s largest grain crop, but corn production is growing. Production of milk and dairy products is also significant.
As Polish farms grow and become technologically advance, there will be greater demand for precision agricultural technologies. Technology that will enable greater productivity and quality control in fresh produce, pork and poultry production will be needed.  Pork, poultry and fodder machinery and equipment present opportunities for U.S. exporters.  Recent elimination of EU dairy quotas and Poland’s growing number of larger dairy farms may create opportunities for suppliers of various milking machines and robots.
As an EU member state, Poland has duty-free access to the rest of the 28-country single market, and to EU rural development funds.  Polish farmers have made extensive use of these funds in modernizing their operations and this is a driving force for Poland’s agriculture transformation and upgrading.  The funds available from the Development of Rural Areas Program (PROW) in 2014-2020 are assessed at Euro 13.6 billion, including Euro 8.7 billion from the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development and Euro 4.9 billion from the Polish budget.  The PROW subsidies can be spent for:  modernization of farms, including machinery and equipment purchase, development of livestock, pig, and milk production; starting a business in rural areas; subsidies for young farmers, the restructuring of small farms and others.
 

Web Resources

Polish Chamber of Agriculture Machinery and Equipment
http://www.pigmiur.pl
 
Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development
http://www.minrol.gov.pl/
 
Agency for Restructuring and Modernization of Agriculture (ARMA)
http://www.arimr.gov.pl/
 
Institute of Agricultural and Food Economics
http://www.ierigz.waw.pl/
 
Major Trade Events:
AGROTECH
http://www.targikielce.pl/pl/agrotech.htm
 
Centralne Targi Rolnicze
 http://centralnetargirolnicze.pl/?lang=en
 
Roltechnika
http://www.roltechnika.pl/pl/
 

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