May U.S. manufacturing technology orders totaled $351.9 million, according the Association for Manufacturing Technology. This total was down 10 percent from April and down 17.5 percent when compared with May 2013. With a year-to-date total of $1,971.8 million, 2014 is down 1.4 percent compared with 2013.
“Expectations for the 2014 manufacturing technology market were for a soft first half of the year, followed by a stronger second half. The fluctuations seen in the past few months are on track with forecasts, and all indications are that U.S. manufacturing activity is and will remain strong,” said AMT President Douglas Woods. “The PMI continues to stay above 50, capacity utilization is on the rise, and both auto sales and aerospace backlogs are growing, all indications that our customers’ businesses are healthy. We expect continued investments in capital expansion through year’s end.”
The USMTO report, compiled by the trade association representing the production and distribution of manufacturing technology, provides regional and national U.S. orders data of domestic and imported machine tools and related equipment.
Northeast Region
Year-to-date 2014 manufacturing technology orders in the Northeast Region through May totaled $337.4 million, 2.9 percent more than the comparable figure for 2013.
Southeast Region
At $180.6 million, year-to-date manufacturing technology orders in the Southeast Region were up 5.5 percent when compared with the total for 2013 at the same time.
North Central-East Region
May manufacturing technology orders in the North Central-East Region totaled $81.8 million, down 16.8 percent from April’s $98.4 million and down 16.7 percent when compared with last May. At $551.4 million, year-to-date 2014 was up 6.2 percent when compared with 2013 at the same time.
North Central-West Region
May manufacturing technology orders in the North Central-West Region totaled $53.7 million, down 17.8 percent when compared with April’s $65.4 million and 27.2 percent less than the May 2013 total of $73.8 million.
South Central Region
With a year-to-date total of $313.8 million, manufacturing technology orders in the South Central Region were up 0.9 percent when compared with 2013 at the same time.
