September U.S. manufacturing technology consumption totaled $407.21 million, according to the American Machine Tool Distributors’ Association and The Association for Manufacturing Technology. This total was up 31.9 percent from August and up 43.1 percent from the total of $284.47 million reported for September 2005. With a year-to-date total of $2,815.34 million, 2006 was up 26.2 percent compared with 2005.
“Strong sales at September’s International Manufacturing Technology Show pushed year-to-date consumption to its largest lead over 2005,” said John J. Healy, AMTDA president. “It now looks likely that 2006 will post the best results for U.S. investment in advanced manufacturing equipment since 2000.”
The U.S. Machine Tool Consumption (USMTC) report, compiled by the two trade associations representing the production and distribution of manufacturing technology, 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.
U.S. machine tool consumption is also reported on a regional basis for five geographic break-downs of the United States.
Northeast Region
At $57.73 million, September Northeast Region manufacturing technology consumption was 22.6 percent higher than August’s $47.10 million and 49.6 percent ahead of the September 2005 total. Year-to-date consumption of $412.49 million was 35.9 percent higher than the comparable total in 2005.
Southern Region
September manufacturing technology consumption in the Southern Region stood at $41.41 million, down 7.1 percent when compared with August’s $44.56 million, and 6.2 percent less than last September’s tally. With a $372.95 million total, year-to-date consumption was up 2.7 percent from the year-ago figure.
Midwestern Region
Midwestern Region September manufacturing technology consumption rose to $126.15 million, a 63.8 percent increase over August’s $77.01 million and 15.4 percent higher than the September total a year ago. With a year-to-date total of $859.63 million, 2006 was running 6.8 percent ahead of 2005 at the same time.
Central Region
Totaling $119.82 million, Central Region manufacturing technology consumption in September was 43.0 percent higher than August’s $83.78 million and 118.8 percent above the total for last September. Year-to-date consumption rose to $734.20 million, 59.6 percent higher than the figure for 2005 at the same time.
Western Region
With a September total of $62.10 million, Western Region manufacturing technology consumption was up 10.2 percent when compared with August’s $56.37 million, and up 64.9 percent when compared with September a year ago. Totaling $436.06 million, year-to-date consumption was 45.7 percent higher than the comparable total in 2005.
