Unit Machine Tool Orders Highest Since October 2018

According to the United States Machine Tool Orders (USMTO) report published by the Association For Manufacturing Technology (AMT, McLean, Virginia), June machine tool orders were 2,549 units and $470,043,000.

Unit orders in June increased “just” 21.8% compared with one year ago, which was the slowest rate of month-over-month growth in 2021. However, June 2020 was a strong month for machine tool orders with nearly 2,100 units ordered. And, June’s unit order total was the highest since October 2018. June was the ninth month of growth in the last 10 months. As a result, the annual rate of change grew at an accelerating rate for the fourth straight month to 16.6%, which was the fastest rate of growth since September 2018.

In June, real dollar orders increased 33.1%. While this was the slowest rate of month-over-month growth since February, the level of dollar orders was the highest since October 2018. The annual rate of change in dollar orders grew 15.2% in June, which was the third straight month of accelerating annual growth and the fastest growth since December 2018. 

The north-central west region is clearly leading the recovery in the machine tool industry. Dollar orders grew more than 100% in four of the last five months.

Compared with one year ago, the GBI: Metalworking was 32.8% higher, which was the 12^th consecutive month of growth. The annual rate of change in the GBI grew 24.0% in July, which was the fifth straight month of accelerating growth. The strong growth in the metalworking industry should lead to accelerating growth in machine tool orders throughout 2021.