New orders for machine tools and related equipment totaled $462.95 million in June, a 0.6% fall off from May’s $465.54 million result, and a decline of 1.8% from the June 2011 figure of $471.49 million. However, the June 2012 result brings the year-to-date total for manufacturing technology orders to $2.68 billion, an 8.8% improvement over the first-half total for 2011.
The data is contained in the AMT - The Association For Manufacturing Technology’s U.S. Manufacturing Technology Orders report, a monthly compilation of actual data reported by participating manufacturers and distributors, and including both domestic products and imported machines and products.
“Suppliers to technology builders are experiencing a backlog two to three times above normal levels, and consequently growth in manufacturing technology orders has slowed,” AMT president Douglas K. Woods observed. “A significant uptick in order activity is expected after IMTS.”
Woods added that in addition to monthly gains in industrial production, “manufacturing payrolls also saw gains for the second consecutive month — an indicator that companies are both confident and optimistic that demand will increase.”
The USMTO report provides data on regional order activity, too. In the Northeast, new orders for manufacturing technology orders fell 0.3% from $63.4 million in May to $63.23 million in June. The latest result is down 11.0% compared to the $71.08 reported for June 2011.
With a six-month total of $377.27 million, the Northeast is running 0.1% ahead of the January-June 2011 orders ($377.08 million.)
In the South, new orders for manufacturing technology totaled $87.59 million in June, a rise of 11.6% over the May 2012 figure of $78.49 million, and 32.3% over the June 2011 figure of $66.19 million. The Southern region’s six-month total is $381.28 million, an improvement of 18.1% over the first-half result for 2011.
The Midwest’s manufacturing technology orders fell 9.8% to $136.07 million in June, from $150.86 million in May, as well as 13.6% less than the $157.45 result for June 2011. For the year-to-date, the Midwest’s new orders of machine tools and related products amounts to $869.07 million, up 3.3% compared to the $841.44 recorded for the January-June 2011 period.
New orders in the Central region rose 8.5% in June to $136.75 million, from $126.08 million in May, and are up 9.2% versus the $125.1 result posted in June 2011. The region’s year-to-date total is $797.52 million, up 18.0% over the $676.06 reported in the first half of 2011.
Finally, in the Western region, June manufacturing technology orders totaled $39.31 million, a drop of 15.8% from the May result $46.71 million, a 23.7% fall-off from $51.55 million posted in June 2011. For the first half of 2012, the West has had machine tool orders totaling $257.23 million, 3.8% over $247.87 reported for the first six months of 2011.
