ROCKVILLE, MD and MCLEAN, VA-July U.S. manufacturing technology orders totaled $506.97 million according to AMTDA, the American Machine Tool Distributors’ Association, and AMT, The Association For Manufacturing Technology. This total, as reported by companies participating in the United States Manufacturing Technology Orders (USMTO) program, was up 7.3% from June and up 92.7% when compared with the total of $263.14 million reported for July 2010. With a year-to-date total of $2,975.10 million, 2011 is up 102.9% compared with 2010.

These numbers and all data in this report are based on the totals of actual data reported by companies participating in the USMTO program.

“Machine tool sales continue to exceed forecasts for 2011,” says Peter Borden, AMTDA president. “The stock market’s volatility and the traditional summer slowdowns as budgets are depleted were no match for the ongoing demand to get new machines into production as soon as possible. This pace will slow; but for USMTO 2011 so far, there are no signs of what we hear on the nightly news.”

The USMTO report, jointly compiled by the two trade associations representing the production and distribution of manufacturing technology, 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.

U.S. manufacturing technology orders are also reported on a regional basis for five geographic breakdowns of the United States:

Northeast.At $58.38 million, July manufacturing technology orders in the Northeast region were down 17.9% when compared with the $71.08 million total for June but up 11.3% when compared with July a year ago. The year-to-date total of $434.97 million is 63.6% more than the comparable figure for 2010.

Southern.July manufacturing technology orders in the Southern region totaled $75.03 million, 13.4% more than June’s $66.19 million and 191.3% more than the July 2010 total. With a year-to-date total of $381.76 million, 2011 is up 79.6% when compared with 2010 at the same time.

Midwest.Midwest region manufacturing technology orders in July stood at $159.26 million, 1.0% more than the June total of $157.62 million and up 70.2% when compared with last July. At $1,016.66 million, the 2011 year-to-date total is 138.5% more than the comparable figure for 2010.

Central.Manufacturing technology orders in the Central region in July totaled $106.98 million, down 15.2% from June’s $126.14 million but up 75.7% when compared with the July 2010 figure. The $786.57 million year-to-date total is 103.6% higher than the total for the same period in 2010.

WesternWestern region manufacturing technology orders totaled $107.31 million in July, 108.2% more than the $51.55 million total for June and 252.6% higher than the tally for July 2010. At $355.14 million, 2011 year-to-date is up 102.3% when compared with last year at the same time.