YTD, Machine Tool Consumption Off 68.6% in 2009

Manufacturing technology consumption improved in March for the second straight month, but year-to-date totals are still down 68.6 percent, according to the United States Manufacturing Technology Consumption Report.
The report, which was issued by the American Machine Tool Distributors Association and The Association for Manufacturing Technology, shows that U.S. manufacturing technology consumption totaled $162.94 million in March, up 22.3 percent compared to February. But that total is off by 72 percent compared to March 2008. With a year-to-date total of $397.56 million, 2009 is down 68.6 percent compared to a year ago.
The monthly report provides consumption data of domestic and imported machine tools and related equipment and indicates the manufacturing industry's level of investment in capital metalworking equipment.
Though monthly totals have increased since the reported historic lows in January, the AMTDA and AMT still project 2009 sales to be at least 50 percent below the levels of 2008.