Energy prices and commodities costs, not to mention an overall uninspiring economy, have many businesses cutting back on spending. Nonetheless, a new report suggests manufacturing industries are investing in capital metalworking equipment to increase capacity and improve productivity.

With a year-to-date total of $1,942.37 million, United States manufacturing technology consumption in 2008 is up 17.2 percent compared with 2007, according to the latest U.S. Manufacturing Technology Consumption (USMTC) report, a joint effort with the American Machine Tool Distributors’ Association (AMTDA) and the Association for Manufacturing Technology (AMT).

May consumption of manufacturing technology in the U.S. totaled $341.21 million, according to this week’s findings.

“The May machine tool consumption numbers again demonstrated continued strength and growth in many markets across the country, except in the automotive sector in the upper Midwest,” Peter Borden, AMTDA president, said in a statement this week.

The May 2008 total, as reported by companies participating in the USMTC program, was down 16.4 percent from April, but up 2.2 percent from the total of $333.80 million reported for May 2007. April U.S. manufacturing technology consumption totaled $396.47 million, which was down 27.6 percent from March, but up 29.2 percent from the total of $306.86 million reported for April 2007, according to the previous USMTC findings, released last month.

Export demand for U.S. manufactured products and the global boom in infrastructure development has contributed to capital equipment investment growth, according to AMT President John B. Byrd III last month.

The USMTC report, jointly compiled by the two trade associations representing the production and distribution of manufacturing technology, provides national and regional U.S. consumption data of domestic and imported machine tools and related equipment.

The following is a basic breakdown of manufacturing tech consumption highlights on a regional basis.

Northeast Region
Northeast region manufacturing technology consumption in May rose to $48.48 million, 4.7 percent higher than April’s $46.30 million, but 16.0 percent less than the total for May 2007. The year-to-date total of $269.89 million is off 0.1 percent when compared with 2007 at the same time.

Southern Region
May manufacturing technology consumption in the Southern region stood at $43.47 million, a 11.6 percent decrease from April’s $49.17 million and 19.0 percent less than the May total a year ago. The $314.75 million year-to-date total is 47.2 percent higher than the 2007 total at the same time.

Midwestern Region
At $119.31 million, May manufacturing technology consumption in the Midwest region was 26.2 percent less than April’s $161.76 million total. But it was also 20.8 percent higher than the May 2007 tally. The year-to-date total of $662.98 million is up 42.6 percent compared with the same time last year.

Central Region
Central region manufacturing technology consumption rose to $91.15 million in May, up 7.5 percent when compared with April’s $84.79 million. Consumption was 3.4 percent higher than the total for May 2007. The year-to-date total of $447.29 million in 2008 is 2.9 percent less than the comparable figure a year ago.

Western Region
With a May total of $38.78 million, Western region manufacturing technology consumption was 41.5 percent less than April’s $66.25 million, but it was up 9.2 percent when compared with May a year ago. The $247.47 million year-to-date total is down 0.2 percent when compared with 2007 at the same time.