US machine tool orders drop in June 2013

According to data released by the American Association of Manufacturing Technology, in June 2013, the order value of metal processing machine tools in the United States was 430 million US dollars, a decrease of 5.8% from the previous month and a decrease of 5.7% from the same period last year. The order volume was 2,229 units, a decrease of 119 units from the previous month. The order value of machine tools was US$390 million, down 1.8% month-on-month and 3.9% year-on-year. The order volume was 2,094 units, a month-on-month decrease of 76 units; the order value of forming machine tools was 34.4 million US dollars, a month-on-month decrease of 36.0%, a year-on-year decrease of 22.7%, and the order volume was 135 units , a decrease of 43 units from the previous month. In the first half of 2013, US metalworking machine tool orders were $25.4 billion, down 5.7% year-on-year. Among them, orders for metal cutting machine tools were US$2.29 billion, down 5.9% year-on-year; orders for forming machine tools were US$250 million, down 3.7% year-on-year. Douglas Woods, president of the American Association of Manufacturing Technology, said that the decline in manufacturing technology orders in the summer is a common phenomenon, which has occurred in six years in the nine consecutive years. However, the level of orders is still relatively high, and the manufacturing industry continues to drive economic growth. Durable goods orders reached a record high of US$240 million in June, and the PMI index also reached 55%. It is expected that manufacturing technical orders will remain basically stable by the end of the year. From the perspective of the regional division of metal processing orders, in the first half of the year, the five federal states in the east, central and north of the United States had the highest orders, and the nine federal states in the west, central and north of the United States ranked second in metal processing machine tool orders, and 13 states in the northeast. Orders ranked third, the central and southern 5 federal states ranked fourth, the western 10 federal states ranked fifth, and the southeastern 7 federal states ranked the lowest in machine tool orders. From the year-on-year perspective of orders, the demand for machine tools in the west is relatively large, reaching an increase of 11.7%, and the northeast has an increase of 1.3%. The increase in orders in the west mainly comes from forming machine tools, while the demand for metal cutting machine tools in the northeast is larger.