The top brasses of Taiwan’s leading machine-tool makers are promoting their respective products in person at International Manufacturing Technology Show 2012 (IMTS 2012) in Chicago running Sept. 10-15, which is recognized as the world’s No.3 machine tool event after the EMO in Hannover and China International Machine Tool & Tools Show in Beijing.

Taiwan’s industry executives pointed out that most of the island’s machine-tool makers have landed 20-40% fewer orders in the third quarter than they did in the same quarter last year due to declining demands in mainland China, which has been the Taiwan industry’s foremost export destination for many years, and regular demand plunge on the island during the July ghost month in lunar calendar, not to mention the ongoing European sovereignty debt crisis.

Although most of them estimate the market would begin to bottom out at the end of this year or early next year, many are still seeing their capacity for the fourth-quarter’s orders unfilled.

They hope the U.S. presidential election this year and the Obama administration’s facilitating American investments in industrial energy efficiency would provide them good opportunities to acquire orders at the trade fair.

Executives of Falcon Machine Tools Co., Ltd., which owns the brand CHEVALIER, pointed out that the European demand has yet to show signs of recovery while orders from the U.S. have grown strong since the second half of last year to account for around 30% of the company’s revenue in the first half of this year along with Canadian orders. The company exhibits machine tool controllers, grinding machines and double-column grinding machines at this show.

Tongtai Machine & Tool Co., Ltd. executives hope that the company sales in the United States would rise to account for 8% of the company’s revenue next year from current 7%. The company’s executives including president, K.C. Wang, attend the show in person to drum up business mostly for the company’s machining centers.

Goodway Machine Corp. Chairman D.H. Yang is at the show promoting the company’s horizontal and vertical CNC turning machines as well as Swiss-type CNC turning machines. He said the American market is very important to his company, accounting for around 14.7% of its revenue in the second quarter.

The company’s subsidiary, AWEA Mechantronic Co., Ltd., depends on U.S. market for more than 20% of its revenue. The company is promoting five-axis machining centers at this show. Kao Fong Machinery executives hope the American market would account for at least 15% of its revenue next year, up from current 5%.