Machine Tool Consumption up 13.5% in February

February U.S. machine tool consumption, at $242.10 million, was up 13.5% from January and up 37.9% from $175.52 million reported for February 2004, according to the Association For Manufacturing Technology and the American Machine Tool Distributors' Association. With a year-to-date total of $455.48 million, 2005 was up 28.3% compared with 2004.

"Historically, when February results outpace January, machine tool orders are in an acceleration mode," said John B. Byrd III, AMT president. "That is why I believe our industry, and manufacturing overall, will see continued growth in 2005."

The United States Machine Tool Consumption (USMTC) report, jointly compiled by the two trade associations representing the production and distribution of manufacturing technology, provides regional and nationalU.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 $35.88 million, February Northeast Region machine tool consumption was up 54.1% compared with January's $23.29 million and up 12.4% when compared with February a year ago. The year-to-date total of $59.17 million was 7.5% higher than the comparable figure in 2004.

Southern Region
Southern Region machine tool consumption in February stood at $33.06 million, down 15.0% from January's $38.88 million, but 78.2% higher than the total for February 2004. With a year-to-date total of $71.95 million, 2005 was running 60.8% ahead of 2004 at the same time.

Midwestern Region
February machine tool consumption in the Midwestern Region totaled $96.92 million, 14.6% higher than January's $84.59 million and 47.8% higher than the total for last February. At $181.51 million, year-to-date 2005 machine tool consumption was up 29.4% compared with 2004 at the same time.

Central Region
Central Region machine tool consumption in February stood at $47.52 million, up 11.2% from January's $42.74 million, and up 43.2% when compared with February a year ago. Year-to-date machine tool consumption totaled $90.26 million, 45.3% higher than the comparable figure in 2004.

Western Region
With a total of $28.73 million, Western Region machine tool consumption in February was 20.3% higher than January's $23.87 million, and up 9.3% compared with February 2004. The year-to-date total of $52.60 million was approximately level with the comparable figure for 2004.