Although manufacturers across all regions of the U.S. decreased their orders of machine tools and related equipment in November, the total value of manufacturing tech consumption was up 81.1 percent over the same month in 2009.

The total value of United States manufacturers’ machine tool and related equipment consumption dropped to $318.18 million in November, down 17.7 percent from October, according to the latest U.S. Manufacturing Technology Consumption (USMTC) report, released this week. Nonetheless, the total for November was up 81.1 percent over the $175.68 million reported for November 2009.

At $2.79 billion, the 2010 year-to-date total was 82.7 percent higher than the total for the same period in 2009.

Based on data from American Machine Tool Distributors’ Association (AMTDA) and the Association for Manufacturing Technology member companies, the USMTC report provides regional and national consumption figures for manufacturing machine tools and related equipment.

On a month-to-month basis, consumption dropped across all five regions of the U.S. in November.

On a regional level, the largest decreases were in the Northeast states, with November machine tech consumption dropping 35.6 percent from October, to $62.68 million. The monthly total was still 92.2 percent higher than in November 2009. Moreover, the $523.86 million year-to-date total was 77.7 percent higher than the total for the same period the previous year.

The second-largest monthly increase took place in the Central region, where manufacturing tech consumption totaled $71.30 million, down 22.9 percent from October. The November total remained 48.5 percent higher than in the same month in 2009. At $722.78 million, the 2010 year-to-date total was 94.4 percent higher than the comparable prior-year figure.

In the Southern states, consumption totaled $35.94 million in November, 9.8 percent lower than October’s $39.83 million but 31.3 percent higher than the November 2009 figure. With a year-to-date value of $384.77 million, 2010 was up 79.2 percent when compared with the same period in 2009.

At $37.19 million, manufacturing tech consumption in the Western region was down 7.7 percent from October but up 91.4 percent from November 2009. The $305.79 million year-to-date total was 45.5 percent higher than the 2009 total for the same period.

Manufacturing tech consumption in the Midwest region in November stood at $111.07 million, down 4.7 percent when compared with October. However, the monthly total was 130.1 percent higher than the tally for the previous November. At $855.38 million, the year-to-date total was 95.9 percent higher than the comparable figure for 2009.

Based on the latest data from the U.S. Department of Commerce, new orders for machinery fell 0.2 percent between October and November, to 27.2 billion. New orders, however, increased 1.3 percent to $25.1 billion during the same period.

According to the same Commerce Department report, the year-to-date total value of machinery shipments ($269.3 billion) was up 7.2 percent from the same period in 2009, while the year-to-date total for industrial machinery ($29.6 billion) was up 21.6 percent. Meanwhile, the year-to-date total value for new machinery orders ($288.8 billion) was up 21.1 percent, with industrial machinery orders up 54.8 percent from the same period last year.

“The November numbers reflect the continuing rebound of the U.S. manufacturing sector,” AMTDA President Peter Borden said in a statement. “Confidence in 2011 is growing and purchases are being made despite the capacity rates being below the threshold when this normally occurs. Backlogs and deliveries are lengthening while prices are increasing as supply lines struggle to meet the surprising surge in demand.”

In the Institute for Supply Management’s latest manufacturing Report on Business, released earlier this month, the machinery industry was one of 11 manufacturing industries that reported overall growth in December.

Earlier

Manufacturing Tech Consumption up Year-Over-Year

Manufacturing Growth Accelerates into 2011

Resources

Manufacturing Technology Consumption Up 82.7% Year-to-Date
Association for Manufacturing Technology, Jan. 10, 2011

Full Report on Manufacturers’ Shipments, Inventories and Orders – November 2010
U.S. Department of Commerce, Jan. 4, 2011