Machine Tool Shipments Up, Orders Down, in September

WASHINGTON — Shipments of machine tools rose in September, but orders for the equipment--a barometer of future economic health--weakened during the month, the Assn. for Manufacturing Technology said.

Shipments rose 29% in September to $298.7 million from $231.3 million the month before and increased 5.9% from year-ago levels. So far this year, they are up 7.9% to $2.4 billion, compared to the year-earlier period.

But orders for new machine tools declined 4.6% during September to $264.2 million from $276.8 million the month before and are 12.7% lower than year-earlier levels.

For the first nine months of the year, orders dipped slightly to $2.19 billion from $2.21 billion during the same period last year.

The backlog of machine tool orders stood at $1.57 billion in September, down from $2.15 billion in the year-earlier period and from $1.6 billion in August.

Albert Moore, the association’s president, said demand “is holding firm.”

Moore said foreign orders are up 13% from year-ago levels. The increase, he said, is “a good indication that America’s machine tool builders are globally competitive.”

Metal-cutting orders dropped 8.6% in September to $209 million from the month before, bringing year-to-date metal cutting orders to $1.57 billion, 1.9% more than in the same period the year before.

September’s metal-cutting orders increased 8.6% from year-earlier levels.

Metal-cutting shipments gained 21.8% from August to September but were down 17% from year-ago levels. So far this year, metal-cutting shipments have increased 3.6% to $1.69 billion.

Although orders for metal-forming tools gained 14.4% in September from the month before, they were down a sharp 49.9% from year-earlier levels. For the first nine months, the orders are down 6.5% to $624.9 million.

Metal-forming shipments, however, increased 103.6% in September from year-earlier levels and gained 44.1% from August. So far this year, metal-forming shipments stand at $736 million, up 19.2% from last year.