A Punctual Phenomenon

Stimulated by MDA, the Brazilian Market consumed a volume of almost 11 thousand backhoe loaders in 2013, but the sales record should not be repeated this year

According to the survey Sobratema Study about the Brazilian Equipment Market, in 2013 the country broke all the historical records by moving almost 11 thousand new backhoe loaders. In fact, this performance was above all expectations, but before imagining that Brazil became a worldwide hot spot for this kind of heavy machine, it is necessary to put this result in perspective.

This is because – as is the case of motorgraders – more than 5 thousand units were bought by the federal government, by means of the acquisition program of Ministério do Desenvolvimento Agrário (the Agriculture Development Ministry – MDA). As it is known, the intention was to supply the small municipalities with machines to work in benefit of the population, mainly in recovering country roads and stimulating family agriculture.

And, obviously, this commercial “phenomenon” will not be repeated in the same intensity, so that the manufacturers of this segment should bet in a not so profitable market this year. The projections, by the way, are around 7 thousand units (this is a dramatic -36.3% reduction), meaning a return to the same 2008 and 2009 level. This lower volume should represent the actual potential of this niche presently.

Exactly to dimension this market en 2014, M&T interviewed the four manufacturers which won the bid to supply backhoe loaders to MDA: Caterpillar, JCB, Randon and Case. These were the players, in descending order of volume, which supplied MDA with exact 5.071 machines. According to the requirements that were foreseen in the notice of competition, most machines were already delivered.

ORDERS

In the case of Caterpillar, as explains João Raphael Lorenzetti, commercial manager of the company in Brazil, the govern announcement established the delivery of a lot of 1274 machines, which were delivered between April and November last year. “For this year, we expect that the market should have a moderate growth”, he says. “This, obviously, will be with the exclusion of the MDA volume.”

Also contemplated, JCB supplied 2313 units to MDA. According to the commercial director Nei Hamilton, this year we will really see a market retraction, again due to the exclusion of the MDA volume. The company, which has also delivered all machines during last year, points out that the federal government has been a frequent buyer of its backhoe loaders, as during the two last years it supplied the largest volume among the four manufacturers that are mentioned here.

Randon Veículos does not confirm the exact number of backhoe loaders that it supplied to MDA, mat – according to the Ministry data – Randon won the bid to deliver 1180 machines. “Between 2012 and 2013, however, our dealers have delivered more than 1.2 thousand backhoe loaders for PAC 1 and 2 connected programs”, says Celso Santa Catarina, director of the manufacturer, confirming that this year the market should return to the 2008 and 2009 total sales level.

On the other hand, Case Construction Equipment supplied 304 backhoe loaders to MDA min 2013. For Carlos França, Case marketing manager, this shows that the MDA did not represent a great commercial impact for the company. This means that, inversely, the reduction should not be a meaningful one in 2014 as well. “But generally, with the end of deliveries to MDA, the backhoe loaders market in Brazil should return to the normal level, with some 7.3 thousand units, and Case should record a modest sales growth”, he says.

According to the interviewed executives, all machines that were produced for the MDA were delivered with a 16 training hour program, as it was established by the govern announcement. In the case of Caterpillar, as explained by Lorenzetti, the training sessions were done together with the machines delivery in the cities that were determined by the Ministry. “The machines preventative maintenance has a guarantee of the Cat dealers during the first 2.5 thousand hours of operation”, added the executive. “This was also an important requirement.”

By the way, the training requirement was also mentioned by the other interviewed executives, who have guaranteed the accuracy of this action by means of their dealers. In general, the training sessions were divided in two phases, including eight hours for theoretical classes and the same period of time for practical sessions for operators. According to Nei Hamilton, of JCB, two operators were trained for each machine, a relation that was required to meet the announcement prerogatives.