March U.S. manufacturing technology consumption totaled $511.15 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 USMTC program, was up 57.6% from February and up 99.0% when compared with the total of $256.88 million reported for March 2010. With a year-to-date total of $1,203.57 million, 2011 is up 118.6% 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 USMTC program.

“Machine tool sales exceeded expectations again in March and by a large margin; this is a great sign for the U.S. economy,” said Peter Borden, President of AMTDA. “Not only are customers modernizing to become more efficient and to increase capacity as energy and commodity prices rise, but also supplier price increases and reduced inventories seem to be pulling orders sooner in order to use year end depreciation tax advantages.”

The United States Manufacturing Technology Consumption (USMTC) report, jointly compiled by the two trade associations representing the production and distribution of manufacturing technology, provides regional and national U.S. consumption data of domestic and imported machine tools and related equipment. Analysis of manufacturing technology consumption provides a reliable leading economic indicator as manufacturing industries invest in capital metalworking equipment to increase capacity and improve productivity.

U.S. manufacturing technology consumption is also reported on a regional basis for five geographic breakdowns of the United States