U.S. manufacturing technology orders increased 7.3 percent from June through July and were up 92.7 percent from the year-ago level, according to the latest data.

The total value of United States manufacturers’ machine tool and related equipment consumption rose to $506.97 million in July, up 7.3 percent from June, according to the latest U.S. Manufacturing Technology Orders (USMTO) report, released last week. Demand for U.S. machine tools and related products also increased on a year-over-year basis, with July 2011 orders coming in 92.7 percent higher than the July 2010 tally.

With a year-to-date total of nearly $3 billion, 2011 is up 102.9 percent over the same period last year.

“The manufacturing beat goes on! Machine tool sales continue to exceed forecasts for 2011,” Peter Borden, president of the American Machine Tool Distributors’ Association (AMTDA), said in a statement. “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.

“This pace will slow; but for USMTO 2011 so far, there are no signs of what we hear on the nightly news,” Borden continued.

Based on data from member companies of the AMTDA and the Association for Manufacturing Technology (AMT), the USMTO report provides regional and national consumption data for manufacturing machine tools and related equipment.

In July, three of the five major U.S. regions tracked by the USMTO showed a month-over-month rise in manufacturing technology orders. On a year-over-year basis, machine tool consumption increased in all five geographic regions tracked.

The largest monthly gain was in the Western region, where manufacturing technology orders totaled $107.31 million in July, marking a 108.2 percent rise over June. The July 2011 figure was also up 252.6 percent from the same month in 2010. So far this year, consumption in the region has reached $355.14 million, up 102.3 percent compared with the first seven months of 2010.

In the Southern states, July manufacturing technology orders totaled $75.03 million, 13.4 percent higher than in June and 191.3 percent higher than July 2010. The $381.76 million year-to-date total is 79.6 percent higher than the comparable figure in 2010.

July orders in the Midwest region stood at $159.26 million, 1 percent more than the June total and up 70.2 percent compared with July 2010. At just over $1 billion, the 2011 year-to-date total is 138.5 percent higher than the tally for the first seven months of 2010.

Meanwhile, in the Central region of the U.S., July manufacturing technology orders totaled $106.98 million, down 15.2 percent from the previous month but up 75.7 percent from the July 2010 figure. At $786.6 million, the 2011 year-to-date total is 103.6 percent higher than the total for the same period in 2010.

The largest month-over-month drop occurred in the Northeastern states, where orders fell 17.9 percent from June, according to the USMTO. The total monthly value for the region, $71.08 million in July, was nevertheless 11.3 percent higher than the comparable figure in 2010. The $434.97 million year-to-date total marks a 63.6 percent increase over the same period last year.

According to the latest data from the U.S. Department of Commerce, the value of U.S. manufacturers’ new machinery orders dipped 0.2 percent from June to a total of just under $32 billion in July. Meanwhile, new orders for industrial machinery fell 13.8 percent to total $2.9 billion. So far in 2011, total machinery orders have reached approximately $220 billion, 16.2 percent above the prior-year level, the Commerce Department data indicate.

Earlier: Manufacturing Tech Orders Rise in June

Resources

Manufacturing Technology Orders up 102.9% from 2010
American Machine Tool Distributors’ Association/Association for Manufacturing Technology, Sept. 12, 2011

Manufacturers’ Shipments, Inventories and Orders
U.S. Department of Commerce, Aug. 31, 2011