Orders for U.S.-Made Machine Tools Up for 2nd Month in Row

WASHINGTON — Orders for U.S.-made machine tools rose in March for a second-straight month to $236.35 million, a trade group said Sunday.

Orders were up 9.3% from February’s $216.25 million and rose 15% from $205.45 million a year ago, the Assn. for Manufacturing Technology said in its monthly report.

Shipments soared during March, rising 39.7% to $280.75 million in the month, and were up a slight 1.4% from the March, 1991, total of $276.85 million.

The March tool order rise followed a 6.4% increase in February. The gains made up for a dismal January, when orders fell 36.7% and shipments plummeted 43.4%.

The first quarter of 1992 ended with a total of $670 million in orders, 3% above a year ago, but below the fourth quarter of 1991.

AMT President Albert Moore was upbeat.

“We’re off to a good start,” he said in a statement. “If interest rates remain low and economic trends continue to improve, we could see higher machine tool demand from manufacturers more confident about their future.”

Machine tools are used to cut and form metal parts in a huge number of manufactured goods ranging from refrigerators and cookware to aircraft.

The industry relies on the car industry for 30% to 40% of its business and was hurt last year by cutbacks in production by the big American auto manufacturers.

Exports of machine tools had been a bright point amid the gloom, but slow growth around the world has hurt this sector of the business as well.

“We’re by no means out of the woods yet, since most international markets have begun to slow, particularly in Germany and Japan,” Moore added.

March export orders rose a scant 2% to $30.85 million from $30.25 million in February and were down 34.1% from March, 1991. Shipments posted a heftier gain, rising 47.7% to $48.15 million, and were up 14.5% from a year ago.

The group said the March backlog of orders was $1,465.50 million, a decrease from $1,509.90 million in February. The backlog totaled $1,457.30 million a year ago.