March U.S. manufacturing technology consumption totaled $258.00 million, according to the American Machine Tool Distributors’ Association, and the Association For Manufacturing Technology.

This total, as reported by companies participating in the USMTC program, was up 58.1 percent from February and up 49.5 percent from the total of $172.59 million reported for March 2009.  With a year-to-date total of $548.53 million, 2010 is up 33.7 percent compared with 2009.

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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 March increase in manufacturing technology orders is further proof that the recovery is accelerating,” said Peter Borden, AMTDA president. “The number is encouraging considering that bank lending is still anemic and that Congress has done little to help manufacturing, such as repassing the bonus depreciation tax bill or R&D credits.  We still expect some ebb and flow for the rest of the year because of the uncertainties in the world economy.”

The U.S. 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.

U.S. manufacturing technology consumption is also reported on a regional basis for five geographic breakdowns of the U.S.

Northeast Region
At $35.58 million, March manufacturing technology consumption in the Northeast Region was up 33.6 percent from February’s $26.64 million and up 13.8 percent when compared with March a year ago.  The $87.32 million year-to-date total was 11.3 percent more than the 2009 total at the same time.

Southern Region
Southern Region manufacturing technology consumption in March rose to $44.03 million, a rise of 132.9 percent when compared with February’s $18.90 million and up 126.5 percent when compared with March 2009. With a year-to-date total of $91.36 million, 2010 was up 65.1 percent when compared with 2009 at the same time.

Midwest Region
March manufacturing technology consumption in the Midwest Region totaled $77.40 million, up 82.1 percent when compared with the $42.49 million total for February and up 43.2 percent when compared with March a year ago.  The $155.85 million year-to-date total was 28.2 percent more than the total for the same period in 2009.

Central Region
With a total of  $63.94 million, Central Region manufacturing technology consumption in March was 20.4 percent higher than February’s $53.11 million and up 37.8 percent when compared with last March.  The year-to-date total of $143.37 million was 40.4 percent above the comparable figure in 2009.

Western Region
Totaling $37.06 million, Western Region manufacturing technology consumption in March rose 67.9 percent when compared with February’s $22.07 million and was 72.8 percent more than the March 2009 total.  At $70.62 million, 2010 year-to-date was up 33.9 percent when compared with last year at the same time.

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