The November 2010 total for U.S. manufacturing technology consumption was $318.18 million, according to the American Machine Tool Distributors’ Assn. and the Association for Manufacturing Technology. The figure is a decline of 17.7% from the October sales total of $387.13, and the second consecutive month of declining sales after IMTS 2010, the sector’s most important commercial event.
AMTDA and AMT conduct the monthly survey United States Manufacturing Technology Consumption (USMTC) jointly among the manufacturers of machine tools and their sales agencies. The results represent actual data from those companies on a national and regional basis.
Despite the monthly decline, the November figure indicates an 81.1% increase over the November 2009 sales of $175.68 million. Through 11 months of 2010, U.S. machine shops’ and manufacturers’ equipment and technology purchases totaled $2,792.58 million, an improvement of 82.7% over the comparable period of 2009. “The November numbers reflect the continuing rebound of the U.S. manufacturing sector,” according to Peter Borden, AMTDA President.
“Confidence in 2011 is growing and purchases are being made despite the capacity rates being below the threshold when this normally occurs,” Borden elaborated. “Backlogs and deliveries are lengthening while prices are increasing as supply lines struggle to meet the surprising surge in demand. Forecasts suggest things will slow: will this be the case?” he asked. “Stay tuned!”
The November USMTC report found the decline in manufacturing technology consumption featured in each of the five regions covered by the survey. In the Northeast sales totaled $62.68 million, a 35.6% decline from October ($97.37 million) but still 92.2% above the region’s November 2009 consumption total. For the year to-date the Northeast has logged manufacturing technology sales of $523.86 million, up 77.7% versus the January-November 2009 total.
In the South, machine tool sales during November amounted to just $35.94 million, 9.8% less than during October ($39.83 million) but 31.3% more than the year-ago total. The Southern region’s 11-month consumption total is $384.77 million, or 79.2% better than the comparable figure for 2010.
Midwest regional manufacturing technology consumption totaled $111.07 million, a comparatively small decline of 4.7% from October’s $116.50 million. Better, the November 2010 total is 130.1% more than the November 2009 figure, and the January-November 2010 consumption tally stands at $855.38 million, 95.9% more than the 2009 11-month total.
The Central region had November manufacturing technology consumption of $71.30 million, a 22.9% decline from October ($92.42 million) but up 48.5% versus November 2009. The region’s year-to-date consumption total is $722.78 million, 94.4% better than during January-November 2009.
As for the West, the region had November consumption totaling $37.19 million, a 7.7% drop from October ($40.29 million) but a 91.4% increase over November 2009. The region’s year-to-date consumption total is $305.79, a rise of 45.5% over 2009’s 11-month period.
