McLEAN, Va. -- September U.S. manufacturing technology consumption totaled $153.55 million, according to AMTDA, the American Machine Tool Distributors’ Association, and AMT - The Association For Manufacturing Technology. This total, as reported by companies participating in the USMTC program, was up 17.8 percent from August but down 69.3 percent from the total of $500.57 million reported for September 2008. With a year-to-date total of $1,199.93 million, 2009 is down 67.8 percent compared with 2008.
These numbers and all data in this report are based on the totals of actual data reported by companies participating in the USMTC program.
“The slight improvement in September orders indicates that we are in synch with the increases seen in the other monthly indicators such as durable goods sales, the PMI, and steel production,” said Peter Borden, AMTDA President. “The factory capacity utilization number still remains in the 65-70 percent range, however, and until this number returns to 75-80 percent, our rate of growth will be slow and sporadic.”
The United States Manufacturing Technology Consumption (USMTC) report, jointly 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 manufacturing technology consumption provides a reliable leading economic indicator as manufacturing industries invest in capital metalworking equipment to increase capacity and improve productivity.
