Forecast and Analysis of 2015 Development Trends for Grain Harvesters
In the early 1970s, the whole-feed grain combine harvester developed in southern China, mainly for harvesting rice and also capable of harvesting wheat, was mounted on a wheeled or crawler tractor and adopted an axial-flow drum threshing device without a separate separation device, making the overall structure relatively simple; its header was located in front of the tractor, and the threshing device was placed transversely at the rear of the tractor.
According to statistics from the Enterprise Management Committee of the China Association of Agricultural Machinery Manufacturers, in 2013 the industrial added value of key harvester enterprises grew by 16.23%, higher than the growth rate of the agricultural machinery industry. In 2013, key enterprises produced 173,000 grain combine harvesters, an increase of 21.74%. In industry slang, last year was a “big year” for wheat machines.
The market saturation of wheat harvesters has remained at a high level for several consecutive years, but replacement demand has driven growth noticeably. After rapid market growth in 2013, this year will see a slight decline, with a drop of around 10%. Foton Lovol has carried out trade-in and second-hand machine business in Shandong and other places, aiming to compete for old users. The rice harvester market will maintain steady growth. Demand in the corn harvester market is large and strong, and purchasing enthusiasm is high. This year, provincial competent departments will learn from last year's experience and arrange subsidy funds for the second half of the year in a planned and focused manner, so as to better deliver key subsidies for corn harvesters.
The highlight of grain harvester products in 2014 was intensive technological upgrading. After several years of technical preparation, more than 30 enterprises including Foton Lovol and Wuzheng Group began to enter the market with large grain harvesters of over 6 kg. Foton Lovol, Chery Heavy Industry and others have all made hydrostatic drive the upgrade point for 5 kg wheat machine products. New products will be launched to the market this year and will be favored by old users and professional service organizations.
Competition in rice harvester products is concentrated in the further increase of feeding capacity. Driven by cross-regional rice harvesting operations and the rise of professional organizations, demand for longitudinal axial-flow, large-feeding-capacity rice harvesters continues to grow. Brand concentration in rice machines will become further concentrated, and it will be more difficult for enterprises to compete for the market.
Technological upgrading is most intensive for corn machines. First, there has been a major breakthrough in drive axles. In 2013, the hydrostatic-drive four-row machine from Jiufang Taihe and the front-and-rear-axle-drive four-row machine from Rongcheng Haishan were both put into the market in batches and sold very well; the HMT continuously variable transmission corn machine launched by Japan's Kubota entered the market in small batches; at the end of the year, Zhejiang Haitian's new product launch for a hydrostatic drive axle corn machine attracted more than 60 enterprises to attend. Continuously variable transmission and four-wheel-drive corn machines will become mainstream products.
The new corn header with peeling composite snapping rolls has attracted attention. The new header has a wide range of applications, good passing performance, and high cleanliness, and also has a peeling function. It is said to be able to simplify or even replace the peeling machine; if so, it is a major technological innovation. After direct-harvest corn harvesting gained momentum in the Northeast market, it also brought about a research and development boom in direct-harvest models for autumn corn. Some regions choose to plant corn with a shorter growth period to provide conditions for mechanical harvesting. Production enterprises, through innovations in threshing technology and snapping equipment, intend to take the lead in capturing the market in the Central Plains region for snapping and direct-threshing corn harvesters. If, through the collaboration of agronomy and agricultural machinery, one-pass harvesting can be achieved in the Huang-Huai-Hai autumn corn region, that would be a great contribution, and we look forward to it.