U.S. manufacturers’ new orders for machine tools and related equipment and technology increased 7.3% from June to July, from $459.39 million to $506.97 million, and it rose 92.7% over the $263.14 million reported for July 2010. The monthly U.S. Manufacturing Technology Orders report is compiled by the AMTDA, the American Machine Tool Distributors’ Association, and AMT - The Association For Manufacturing Technology based on actual consumption data, including domestic supplies and imports, reported by from participating companies. It also tracks demand for manufacturing technology on a regional basis.
The July data brings the 2011 year-to-date total to $2,975.10 million, giving the current year a 102.9% edge over the seven-month totals for 2010.
“Machine tool sales continue to exceed forecasts for 2011,” stated AMTDA president Peter Borden. “The stock market’s volatility and the traditional summer slowdowns as budgets are depleted were no match for the ongoing demand to get new machines into production as soon as possible.”
Borden conceded that demand level will slow eventually, but he stressed that manufacturing technology orders show no signs of slackening.
U.S. manufacturing technology orders are also reported on a regional basis, where the results were more uneven. In the Northeast, July manufacturing technology orders declined 17.9% to $58.38 million, from $71.08 million in June. However, the latest results are an improvement of 11.3% over July 2010, and region’s 2011 seven-month total of $434.97 million is a rise of 63.6% over the comparable period for 2010.
In the South, July new orders for manufacturing technology amounted to $75.03 million, 13.4% more than the $66.19 million total for June 2010. The July total also is a 191.3% increase over the July 2010 result. January-July 2010 orders amount to $381.76 million, make the South’s 2011 year-to-date total 79.6% better than the seven-month figure for 2010.
The Midwest’s July total for machine tool sales was $159.26 million, a rise of just 1.0% from the $157.62 million reported for June, but a 70.2% increase over the July 2010 report. The region’s year-to-date manufacturing technology sales total $1,016.66 million, an increase of 138.5% over the same period of 2010.
In the Central region, manufacturing technology orders decline 15.2% in July to $106.98 million from $126.14 million in June. However, the July figure is 75.7% up over the July 2010 total, and the current year’s total now stands at $786.57 million, 103.6% above the seven-month total for 2010.
The Western region reported a 108.2% increase in July, up to $107.31 million from $51.55 in June. The region’s latest result is a 252.6% improvement over the result for July 2010, and it brings the year-to-date total for 2011 to $355.14 million, a rise of 102.3% over the seven-month total for 2010.
