According to the American Machine Tool Distributors’ Assn. (AMTDA) and The Association for Manufacturing Technology (AMT), U.S. manufacturing technology consumption is up 33.7% to $258 million for the year to date. The two trade associations reported the total in their monthly U.S. Machine Tool Consumption report, a survey that gathers data from buyers and sellers of machine tool equipment and supplies.
 
AMTDA and AMT say that manufacturing technology consumption is “a reliable leading economic indicator as manufacturing industries invest in capital metalworking equipment to increase capacity and improve productivity.” The USMTC report also provides regional and national U.S. consumption data of domestic and imported machine tools and related equipment.

The March USMTC reports showed an increase of 58.1% from February 2010 and up 49.5% from March 2009. The USMTC total for March is $172.59 million, and the 2010 year-to-date total consumption is $548.53 million, up 33.7% versus the January-to-March 2009 period.

“The March increase in manufacturing technology orders is further proof that the recovery is accelerating,” stated AMTDA president Peter Borden. “The number is encouraging considering that bank lending is still anemic and that Congress has done little to help manufacturing, such as repassing the bonus depreciation tax bill or R&D credits. We still expect some ebb and flow for the rest of the year because of the uncertainties in the world econ-omy.”

In the USMTC report’s regional data for March, the Northeast region consumption rose 33.6% from February to March, totaling $35.58 million. The figure is up 13.8% over March 2009, and the region has a year to date total of $87.32 million, 11.3% above the 2009 total.

In the Southern region, March manufacturing technology consumption rose to $44.03 million, up 132.9% over February’s $18.90 million and up 126.5% over March 2009. The region’s year-to-date total is $91.36 million, up 65.1% compared with 2009 at the same time.

March manufacturing technology consumption in the Midwest region amounted to $77.40 million, up 82.1% over the $42.49 million total for February, and up 43.2% compared with March 2009. The region’s year-to-date total of $155.85 million is 28.2% above the year-ago total.

Manufacturing technology consumption in the Central region during March totaled $63.94 million, 20.4% higher than February’s $53.11 million and 37.8% higher than the March 2009 total. The region’s year-to-date total of $143.37 million is 40.4% more than its first-quarter 2009 consumption.

Finally, in the Western region manufacturing technology amounted to $37.06 million during March, up 67.9% versus February’s $22.07 million and up 72.8% against the March 2009 total. The year-to-date regional consump-tion figure of $70.62 million is up 33.9% compared with the March 2009 report.

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