Consumption of U.S. manufacturing technology increased significantly from November to December, marking a strong end to the year. Overall sales for 2010 were also well-above the prior-year level.

The total consumption value of machine tool and related equipment from United States manufacturers rose to $446.76 million in December, a 40.9 percent increase from November and 104.8 percent above the December 2009 total, according to the latest U.S. Manufacturing Technology Consumption (USTMTC) report, released this week. For 2010 as a whole, machine tool consumption was 85.3 percent higher than the total for 2009.

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

On a regional basis, the largest December gains were in the Central region, with tech consumption increasing 59.4 percent over November to reach $113.36 million, 108 percent higher than in December 2009. The 2010 year-end total of $834.86 million was 95.9 percent above the 2009 total.

In the Western states, manufacturing tech consumption rose to $55.65 million in December, 54.3 percent more than in November and 90.5 percent above the December 2009 level. For 2010 as a whole, the Western states consumed $360.33 million worth of manufacturing technology, up 50.5 percent from 2009.

December sales in the Midwest climbed to $165.96 million, up 48.9 percent from November and 169.3 percent from the same month in 2009. The year-end 2010 consumption total came to $1.02 billion, 104.8 percent higher than the total for 2009.

In the South, December machine tool consumption rose to $45.62 million, a 26.9 percent increase over November and a 55 percent increase over December 2009. The year-end manufacturing tech consumption total climbed to $430.27 million in 2010, up 76.3 percent compared to 2009.

Manufacturing tech consumption in the Northeast rose to $66.17 million in December, up 5.9 percent from November and up 52.6 percent from the total for December 2009. The $589.79 million total for 2010 as a whole was 74.4 percent higher than the yearly total for 2009.

The USMTC’s reported December gain brought total machine tech consumption to $3.24 billion in 2010, an 85.3 percent increase over the 2009 total of $1.77 billion. With several months of consecutive gains extending through the end of last year and positive signs for manufacturing equipment demand, the manufacturing technology industry is poised to continue growing in the short-term future.

“For the first time in USMTC history, we experienced four months of consecutive growth following IMTS [International Manufacturing Technology Show], ending the year on a solid upswing,” Douglas K. Woods, the president of AMT, said in an announcement of the findings. “With backlogs firming and quotation levels accelerating, we are very optimistic that the industry will see strong results in 2011.”

According to a separate report, from the U.S. Department of Commerce this month, new orders for machinery, including industrial, construction and material handling equipment, climbed to $30.3 billion in December, a 10.6 percent increase over the $27.4 billion total for November. For 2010 as a whole, machinery orders rose to $318.5 billion, up 21.6 percent from the 2009 total.

The same report found that shipments of manufactured durable goods increased by 1.6 percent to $200.8 billion in December. Machinery shipments, up four of the last five months, posted the largest increases for the month, climbing 6.6 percent to $27.1 billion.

Earlier

Machine Tool Consumption up Year-Over-Year

Manufacturing Tech Sales Down in 2009

Resources

Manufacturing Technology Consumption up 85% in 2010
Association for Manufacturing Technology, Feb. 14, 2011

Full Report on Manufacturers’ Shipments, Inventories and Orders — December 2010
U.S. Department of Commerce, Feb. 3, 2011