New U.S. orders for metal cutting, forming and fabrication machinery (manufacturing technology) totaled $673 million in June 2026 — a 15.6% jump from May and a 56.8% increase year-over-year. The monthly surge followed a 1.8% dip in May.

Through the first half of 2026, orders totaled $3.44 billion — a 36.0% increase vs. the first half of 2025. It was the strongest half-year for the value of metalworking machinery orders since the Association for Manufacturing Technology began collecting data in 1998 for its monthly Manufacturing Technology Orders Report (USMTO).

“While the value of orders reached an unprecedented level, the number of machines ordered was 2.6% lower than in the second half of 2025,” noted the lastest report, issued Aug. 10. “At least some of these orders were captured in the latest report on U.S. gross domestic product, which showed that, for two quarters in a row, the economy was driven by outsized investment in machinery from business. While a considerable share of that growth comes from AI investments, manufacturing technology is surely an accelerant.”

The June USMTO report emphasized the following points: 

• Orders from contract machine shops continued to accelerate throughout the first half of 2026, registering the highest first-half value since 1998. However, the number of units fell by nearly 8% from the second half of 2025. While job shops represent the largest customer segment for manufacturing technology, the amount of machinery they have ordered over the last several years has lagged behind the market as OEMs made the necessary investments to absorb increased production demands internally rather than by contracting with external job shops.
• Leading the charge in increasing internal capacity is the aerospace sector, which ordered the most machinery in the first half of 2026 on record, in both value and units. The value of orders in the first half of 2026 was nearly one-third higher than in the latter half of 2025, and units were up by nearly a quarter.
• To alleviate the growing energy demand from newly built AI infrastructure, manufacturers of engines, turbines and power transmission equipment have been accelerating the pace of their manufacturing technology orders. While the total orders in the first half of 2026 were comparable to the previous three halves, June 2026 orders were more than double the monthly average since January 2000.

“While headwinds mount and uncertainty grows, the manufacturing economy continues to prove its reliability,” the report continued. “As the International Manufacturing Technology Show (IMTS) approaches, the sky no longer seems to be the limit of where manufacturing technology can go.”