U.S. Machine Tool Consumption Continues to Climb

April 13, 2010
The numbers signal continuing recovery in the manufacturing economy, with Central and Western regions leading the growth in February.

February U.S. manufacturing consumption of machine tools and related equipment technology totaled $163.96 million, according to an April 12 report by The Association For Manufacturing Technology (AMT, www.amtonline.org) and the American Machine Tool Distributors’ Association (AMTDA, www.amtda.org). This total was up 28.8 percent over January this year, and up 22.1 percent from the total of $134.34 million reported for February 2009. With a year-to-date total of $291.27 million, 2010 is up 22.3 percent compared with 2009, the two associations said.

“Manufacturing technology orders start off 2010 up 22 percent through February, showing that the market has turned and is slowly recovering from the worst single-year downturn in our industry’s history,” said Douglas K. Woods, AMT president. “That increase could be twice as large if banks would ease credit restrictions. Our banks have a tenth of our GDP (gross domestic product) and nearly 24 times the required reserve in the Federal Depository, when that money should be working to rebuild America,” Woods added.

The numbers released on April 12 are based on the totals of actual data reported by companies participating in the United States Manufacturing Technology Consumption (USMTC) program. The report, which is jointly compiled by the two trade associations representing the production and distribution of manufacturing technology, provides regional and national U.S. consumption data of domestic and imported machine tools and related equipment. Analysis of manufacturing technology consumption provides a reliable leading economic indicator as manufacturing industries invest in capital metalworking equipment to increase capacity and improve productivity, according to the associations.

U.S. manufacturing technology consumption is also reported on a regional basis for five geographic breakdowns of the United States. The results show that the biggest percentage gains in February came in the Central and Western regions of the country, where consumption jumped by about 102 percent and 92 percent respectively, compared to January. That compares to gains of less than 20 percent in other regions, and even a 33 percent decline in the South. A breakdown by regions follows: Northeast RegionNortheast Region manufacturing technology consumption in February rose to $26.64 million, up 6.1 percent when compared with January’s  $25.11 million but down 3.1 percent when compared with February 2009. With a year-to-date total of $51.75 million, 2010 was up 9.6 percent when compared with 2009 at the same time.Southern RegionFebruary manufacturing technology consumption in the Southern Region totaled $19.00 million, down 33.2 percent  when compared with the $28.42 million total for January and off 11 percent when compared with February a year ago. The $47.42 million year-to-date total was 32.1 percent more than the total for the same period in 2009.Midwest RegionWith a total of  $43.06 million, Midwest Region manufacturing technology consumption in February was 19.7 percent higher than January’s $35.96 million and up 9 percent when compared with last February.  The year-to-date total of $79.02 million was 16.2 percent above the comparable figure in 2009.Central RegionTotaling $53.20 million, Central Region manufacturing technology consumption in February rose 102.1 percent above January’s $26.32 million and was 76.6 percent higher than the total for February 2009. At $79.52 million, 2010 year-to-date was up 42.8 percent when compared with last year at the same time.Western RegionAt $22.07 million, February manufacturing technology consumption in the Western Region was up 91.9 percent from January’s $11.5 million and up 39.1 percent when compared with February a year ago. The $33.57 million year-to-date total was 7.3 percent more than the 2009 total at the same time.American Machine Tool Distributors’ Associationwww.amtda.orgThe Association For Manufacturing Technologywww.amtonline.org

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