New U.S. orders for metal cutting, forming and fabrication machinery (manufacturing technology) totaled $681 million in March — a 40% surge from February, and a 31.5% increase year-over-year. That’s according to the Association for Manufacturing Technology’s (AMT) latest Manufacturing Technology Orders Report (USMTO).

Through March, year-to-date orders of $1.61 billion were up 27.8% vs. a year earlier.

“After a year of turbulent uncertainty caused by constantly shifting tariff regimes, businesses began to settle into a new normal and furthered capital investments to meet resilient consumer demand. That rally in metalworking machinery demand carried into the first quarter of 2026 with little deterrence from the escalating geopolitical uncertainty caused by the outbreak of war with Iran in the closing days of February 2026,” the report stated. “While inflation for machine tools picked up at the beginning of the year, a sustained increase in average order value above inflation continues to point to increased demand for automation as manufacturers deal with a shortage of nearly half a million workers.”

The March USMTO report emphasized the following points: 

• Contract machine shops — the largest customer of manufacturing technology — increased orders, but at a slower pace than the overall market in a continuation of the sector’s trend of underperformance
• Orders from aerospace manufacturers declined about 12% month-over-month but remained elevated as commercial backlogs grow amid capacity constraints and military production intensifies to replace systems used in the war with Iran
• Manufacturers of engines, turbines, and other power transmission systems more than doubled their investment month-over-month, nearly matching the investments made in December 2025. Increased demand for electrical power needed for data centers will likely spur additional investment from this sector in the coming months.

“Economic output in the first quarter of 2026 showed a resilient consumer and a strong appetite from businesses for capital investment,” AMT’s report said. “The latest forecast shows that machinery orders will likely be on par with 2025, yet cutting tool demand is forecast to grow, indicating that manufacturing output will remain high. As quotations are converted to orders and manufacturers’ backlogs continue to grow, there is a strong potential for an upside surprise in the remainder of 2026.”