MCLEAN, VA — Orders of new manufacturing technology totaled $590 million in September 2021, according to the latest U.S. Manufacturing Technology Orders Report published by the Association For Manufacturing Technology (AMT). This was a 9 percent increase over August 2021 orders and nearly a 60 percent increase over September 2020. Year-to-date orders in 2021 totaled $4.115 billion, a 53 percent increase over the total through the first nine months of 2020.
“It took 31 months after the bottom of the 2008-2009 financial crisis to have a single month with half a billion dollars in orders, but September is the third month of 2021 exceeding that mark,” said Douglas K. Woods, president of AMT. “Economists project the United States is past peak growth, yet machine orders remain at a record pace to meet remaining consumer and producer demands.”
Machine shops, which consistently represent the largest share of new orders, pulled back nearly 7 percent from August 2021 levels.
“Machine shop orders usually dictate the direction of the month,” said Woods. “September 2021 was an exception to that trend, which highlights the breadth of the recovery across manufacturing sectors.”
After machine shops, the engine, turbine, and power generation sectors had the largest share of orders in September 2021 and their highest monthly value since December 2011. Research indicates these outsized investments are the result of efforts to increase power grid resilience after a year that saw extreme weather test its durability.
The United States Manufacturing Technology Orders (USMTO) Report is based on the totals of actual data reported by companies participating in the USMTO program. This report, compiled by the Association For Manufacturing Technology (AMT), provides regional and national U.S. orders data of domestic and imported machine tools and related equipment. Analysis of manufacturing technology orders provides a reliable leading economic indicator as manufacturing industries invest in capital metalworking equipment to increase capacity and improve productivity.
