Statistics of Japanese machine tool orders in November 2008

Japan Machine Tool Industry Association (JMTBA) recently announced the accurate statistics of its member units' machine tool orders in November 2008. Statistics show that Japan's total machine tool orders fell sharply to 51.708 billion yen in November, a decrease of 36.6% from the previous month and a decrease of 62.1% from the same period in 2007, setting a record for a single-month decline in history. Among them, CNC machine tool orders reached 49.359 billion yen, a decrease of 37.2% month-on-month and a year-on-year decrease of 62.5%. In November 2008, Japan's domestic orders fell by 60.5% year-on-year to 24.996 billion yen, which was lower than the same period of the previous year for 10 consecutive months; overseas orders were 26.712 billion yen, a year-on-year decrease of 63.6%. In Japan's domestic demand, the order value of machinery manufacturing was 20.724 billion yen, accounting for 40% of Japan's total orders, down 32.5% month-on-month and 63.4 percentage points year-on-year. Among them, users' orders for general machinery manufacturing were 11.841 billion yen, a month-on-month decrease of 27.2%, and a year-on-year decrease of 54.3%; while another hot demand industry, the automotive industry, this month's order value was 4.008 billion yen, a month-on-month decrease. 53.6%, down 78.9 percentage points year-on-year. In addition, the order value from the steel and non-ferrous metal industry was 1.192 billion yen, an increase of 5.4% over the same period of the previous year, the only industry that achieved year-on-year growth; the order value from the metal products industry fell 49.1% year-on-year to 675 million yen. The value of other manufacturing orders was 1.216 billion yen, a decrease of 56 percentage points year-on-year. In November 2008, the sales of Japanese machine tools was 95.42 billion yen, a year-on-year decrease of 23.8%; the machine tool order balance was 634.306 billion yen, a year-on-year decrease of 17.3%. Since August 2008, the amount of Japanese machine tool orders has begun to show an accelerated decline, which further shows the current situation of Japan's sharp economic recession under the financial turmoil. In particular, the Japanese auto industry was hit hard, which also greatly affected the growth of orders for the machinery industry.