Machine tool orders posted mixed results in July, declining slightly on a monthly basis but recording a large gain compared to a year earlier.
Orders totaled $472.6 million for the month, AMT – The Association for Manufacturing Technology said in a monthly report.
That was down 5.6 percent from an adjusted $500.8 million in June, McLean, Va.-based AMT said. However, it was 41.5 percent higher than July 2020’s $334.01 million.
“July is typically a soft month in any year, and despite the massive recovery we’re seeing, 2021 is no different,” Patrick McGibbon, chief knowledge officer at AMT, said in a statement.
For the first seven months, orders surged 48 percent to $2.99 billion compared to the same period in 2020.
The COVID-19 pandemic held down machine tool demand during much of 2020. The year saw manufacturers shut down plants to implement new safety procedures. The aerospace industry was affected by a decline in demand for air travel.
The figures are from companies participating in AMT’s U.S. Manufacturing Technology Orders (USMTO) program.
McGibbon said orders are running at a strong rate overall.
“The amplified pace of orders over the past several months has injected a degree of confidence into manufacturing not seen since before the pandemic,” he said.
