April U.S. manufacturing technology consumption totaled $255.13 million, according to the Association For Manufacturing Technology and the American Machine Tool Distributors Association. This total, as reported by companies participating in the USMTC program, was down 27.7 percent from March but up 6.8 percent from the total of $238.85 million reported for April 2005. With a year-to-date total of $1,103.76 million, 2006 was up 18.5 percent compared with 2005.
These numbers and all data in this report are based on the totals of actual data reported by companies participating in the USMTC program.
“While April orders were below the very strong level in March, year-to-date results are up over 18 percent, continuing the growth begun almost three years ago,” said John B. Byrd III, AMT president.
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 national U.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
Totaling $39.32 million, April manufacturing technology consumption in the Northeast Region was 27.9 percent less than the $54.51 million tallied in March and 9.8 percent less than the April 2005 total. The year-to-date total of $161.42 million was 15.2 percent higher than the comparable figure last year.
Southern Region
April manufacturing technology consumption in the Southern Region totaled $31.33 million, down 37.7 percent from the previous month’s $50.29 million and down 20.2 percent when compared with last April. At $158.46 million, the year-to-date total was 6.3 percent less than the comparable figure a year ago.
Midwestern Region
April Midwestern Region manufacturing technology consumption stood at $66.75 million, 36.1 percent less than March’s $104.45 million and down 4.8 percent when compared with April a year ago. With a year-to-date total of $330.81 million, 2006 was running 4.8 percent ahead of 2005 at the same time.
Central Region
At $72.85 million, April Central Region manufacturing technology consumption was off 17.7 percent compared with the $88.54 million total in March, but 49.6 percent higher than the April 2005 total. The year-to-date total of $280.11 million was 51.9 percent higher than last year’s comparable figure.
Western Region
Western Region manufacturing technology consumption in April totaled $44.87 million, down 18.5 percent from March’s $55.08 million, but 20.7 percent higher than the total for April 2005. Year-to-date 2006 consumption totaled $172.96 million, a 41.6 percent improvement over 2005.
