Cheffins sale grosses over £3.2m as export market bounces back

A 2011 John Deere 7930 with just over 4,200 hours on the clock was sold to a Canadian buyer and achieved over £62,000
A 2011 John Deere 7930 with just over 4,200 hours on the clock was sold to a Canadian buyer and achieved over £62,000

Auctioneer Cheffins has sold over £3.2m worth of machinery at its latest event, making this the firm’s highest grossing monthly machinery sale since February.

The sale, which took place on Monday (7 November), saw around 2,000 lots go under the hammer, of which 50 percent were sold overseas.

Machinery was sold to over 20 different countries with purchasers on site and bidding online from across Europe and Northern Africa.

The event was Cheffins’ most successful sale since February, which grossed £3.8 million.

Joe Page, director at Cheffins Machinery Sales, said the export market had bounced back in 'full force' as buyers looked to make the most of the weakening pound.

"Trade was strong across all areas of the sale, with direct from farm machinery in particular making premium prices," Mr Page said.

"As hunting down machinery throughout the continent is time-consuming, many of our overseas buyers were heading to Cheffins as a one stop shop for machinery and tractors, with many buying multiple lots to take back to Europe.

"Cheffins is one of the only auctioneers to offer full washdown and certification services, giving buyers greater confidence to ship items overseas.”

At the sales event, a 2019 Claas 830 was sold to a Dutch buyer for £57,000
At the sales event, a 2019 Claas 830 was sold to a Dutch buyer for £57,000

Straight from farm machinery, especially tractors, were consistently sought after at the November machinery sale.

Highlights included a direct-from-farm, 2011 John Deere 7930 with just over 4200 hours on the clock, which was sold to Canada and achieved over £62,000.

Similarly, a 2012 John Deere 6330 which came direct from farm caused quite a stir in the field before eventually reaching £28,500.

Meanwhile, a 2019 Claas 830 sold to a Dutch buyer for £57,000.

Mr Page continued: “We saw a strong trade for Claas tractors to Eastern Europe, and John Deere examples heading to Spain and Portugal, for instance.

"Supply chain issues continue to be the main driver for growing prices for quality second-hand machinery, as backlogs and long lead times have delayed trade ins for farmers and caused stock levels to take a nosedive.

"This has led to greater competition in the market and ensured that all quality ex-farm kit is quickly snapped up at auction by either the export market, or domestic farmers and contractors.”