U.S. Machine Tool Orders Remain Flat
The $361.5 million in September 2019 orders was one percent lower than the previous month.
Posted: November 18, 2019
U.S. manufacturing technology orders fell 1 percent from the previous month to a total of $361.5 million in September 2019 according to the latest U.S. Manufacturing Technology Orders Report (USMTO) published by AMT—The Association For Manufacturing Technology (McLean, VA).
Spending in the auto industry was up by about 10 percent despite a significant decline in orders by the power transmission segment of the industry. This is indicative of a supply chain that felt confident that the GM strike would be short and that NAFTA 2.0 would be resolved favorably, again, coupled with the desire to get in orders before the end of the tax year.
The supply chain in the automotive sector was feeling comfortable making modest investments to gear up for 2020. In addition to USMTO data, another key data point that supports this is that the industry saw the projection for the annual sales of vehicles go back up to over 17 million units in October. There is clearly optimism that things will be better by end of year.
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