17 © djmilic | Adobe Stock® Now on a firmer footing It was beyond challenging, but 2021 was survived by the national highway implement industry with performance that only confirms the resilience of a sector that has been through so many other periods of adversity. So, how can we not celebrate sales of 162,600 implements in the domestic market, 33.4% up on 2020? The result surpassed the most optimistic forecast by ANFIR, which up to November projected sales of about 156,000 units in the year. José Carlos Spricigo, president of ANFIR, says the performance confirmed that the sector knew how to take advantage of market opportunities, despite the continued crisis caused by the Covid-19 pandemic which had impacted the economy since the previous year. And not only that, Spricigo recalls that the implement industry, as well as other segments, had to deal simultaneously in 2021 with a shortage of raw materials and components. “But the companies found solutions,” he says. Heavy implements, made up of trailers and semitrailers, accounted for 55.5% of sales. The transporter market bought 90,300 units in 2021, up by 34% on the year before, when 67,400 units were delivered. Bodies on chassis, classified as Light, totaled 73,300 units last year, up by 32.8% on the previous year’s 54,500 units. External factors, such as increased vaccination on a national scale and the continued positive performance of agribusiness, construction, and e-commerce, contributed to the result, says ANFIR. “This scenario brought about natural evolution, throughout the year, in sales. With each quarter, performance improved. The small reduction in the fourth quarter on the third can be attributed to the lower number of business days.” Even exports improved. Last year, Brazil exported no fewer than 5,064 implements to South America, compared with 2,513 in 2020. That is growth of more than 100%! Spricigo says this reaction in 2021 will be consolidated this year. He expects the domestic market to grow by about 10%, a lower rate than last year but on a much stronger comparative basis which may signal the continued recovery of Brazil’s highway implement industry! The editors After getting through an especially difficult year, the highway implement industry expects new growth in 2022
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