Strong manufacturing growth continues with U.S. machine tool consumption of $249.79 million in May, up 4.4% from April and up 22.7% from $203.65 million reported for May 2004, according to AMTDA, the American Machine Tool Distributors' Association and AMT—The Association for Manufacturing Technology, in a July 11 report.
Strong manufacturing growth continues with U.S. machine tool consumption of $249.79 million in May, up 4.4% from April and up 22.7% from $203.65 million reported for May 2004, according to AMTDA , the American Machine Tool Distributors’ Association and AMT —The Association for Manufacturing Technology, in a July 11 report. Year 2005 through May was $1,203.89 million, up 17.9% compared with 2004. Totals are as reported by companies participating in the United States Machine Tool Consumption (USMTC) program.
“Steady capital investment from U.S. manufacturing continues to drive machine tool orders,” says, Ralph J. Nappi, AMTDA President, of the nearly 18% gain. “It is likely the second half of the year will yield a more deliberate and cautious approach to capital investments due to increasing energy costs, labor negotiations, and the inability of Congress to address manufacturing issues.”
All five U.S. geographic regions showed year-to-date increases over 2004, with the Midwest Region having the largest consumption.
Northeast: At $30.91 million, Northeast Region machine tool consumption in May was down 27.7% from the $42.77 million tallied in April and down 2.3% when compared with May a year ago. Year-to-date total of $171.16 million was up 14.1% compared to the same period in 2004.
South: Southern Region machine tool consumption stood at $38.63 million in May, 4.3% lower than April’s $40.36 million, but 54.5% higher than the total for May 2004. With a year-to-date total of $211.59 million, machine tool consumption was 47.9% higher than the comparable figure for 2004.
Midwest: Machine tool consumption in the Midwestern Region in May stood at $92.40 million, a rise of 34.3% over April’s $68.82 million and 4.2% higher than the total for May 2004. The 2005 year-to-date total of $425.00 million was up 1.3% compared with same period 2004.
Central: With a May total of $54.80 million, Central Region machine tool consumption was up 8.7% from April’s $50.39 million and 50.6% higher than the total for May a year ago. Compared with 2004 at the same time, the year-to-date total of $240.79 million increased 30.2%.
West: May Western Region machine tool consumption totaled $33.05 million, down 10.3% compared with the $36.86 million total for April, but up 50.9% when compared with May 2004. At $155.36 million, the year-to-date total was 26.1% higher than year-through-May 2004.
The USMTC report was jointly compiled by AMT and AMTDA, representing the production and distribution of manufacturing technology. The report provides regional and national U.S. consumption data of domestic and imported machine tools and related equipment. Analysis of machine tool consumption provides a reliable leading economic indicator as manufacturing industries invest in capital metalworking equipment to increase capacity and improve productivity, the associations noted.
—Mark T. Hoske, editor-in-chief, Control Engineering, [email protected]
