February U.S. manufacturing technology orders totaled $354.4 million, according to the Association for Manufacturing Technology. This total was down 6.6 percent from January and down 6.2 percent when compared with February 2013. With a year-to-date total of $733.82 million, 2014 is down 0.6 percent compared with 2013.
“A soft first quarter was expected for technology orders, and in this case further challenged by a harsh winter,” said Douglas K. Woods, AMT president. “Many key industry forecasts indicate growth for manufacturing through the end of the year. With the average age of capital equipment at almost 22 years and interest rates continuing to stay low, the environment is ripe for investment in manufacturing technology.”
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
At $64.1 million, manufacturing technology orders in the Northeast Region in February were up 14.3 percent when compared with February 2013. Year-to-date orders were 41.8 percent higher than in 2013.
North Central-East Region
February manufacturing technology orders in the North Central-East Region totaled $82.1 million, down 6.5 percent from January’s $87.8 million and down 25.2 percent when compared with last February. At $169.9 million, year-to-date 2014 was down 20 percent from the comparable figure for 2013.
North Central-West Region
The North Central-West Region February 2014 manufacturing technology order total of $57.5 million was up 18.9 percent from the $48.3 million January total but down 23.6 percent when compared with February 2013. The year-to-date total of $105.8 million was 26.2 percent less than the total for the same period in 2013.
West Region
Year-to-date manufacturing technology orders in the West Region were up 39.1 percent when compared with the 2013 total at the same time.
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