New orders for metal cutting, forming and fabricating machinery (manufacturing technology) totaled $357.3 million in January, according to the Association for Manufacturing Technology’s monthly Manufacturing Technology Orders Report (USMTO).

Month-to-month, that total declined 29.8% from December, but increased 5.7% year-over-year.

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For the calendar year, January 2025 orders were 16.2% higher than the average value of orders placed in January, making it the highest January since 2022. However, compared to the average January, the number of units was 12.2% lower, the lowest level for any January since 2016.

“While the possibility of a strong opening to 2025 remains in sight, and rising utilization rates generally indicate an impending increase in order activity, Oxford Economics modestly downgraded their global growth forecast recently. They cited the rising uncertainty of global trade, which has caused hesitation among those making capital investments,” the report noted.

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The January USMTO report also shared the following:

• Orders from contract machine shops— the largest customer segment for manufacturing technology orders — underperformed for most of 2024, but rebounded in the last fourth months. This did not carry into January 2025, with machine shop orders declining by nearly one-third from December.
• Orders from aerospace manufacturers hit their lowest monthly order level in January since the Boeing strike begin in September 2024, coming in at nearly half of the level from December 2024. Despite the decline, orders were up 11% from January, while output likewise increased, indicating the potential for future demand.
• Automotive manufacturers reduced orders in January 2025 to nearly two-thirds below December 2024 levels
• In contrast, medical manufacturers increased their orders in January 2025 to the highest level since September 2023
• So far in 2025, industrial production remained flat, while capacity utilization dipped modestly in January after increasing in the final two months of 2024