U.S. manufacturing technology orders increased 15.3 percent from May to June, and demand for machine tools and related products continues to outpace 2010 orders.

The total value of United States manufacturers' machine tool and related equipment consumption rose to $459.39 million in June, up 15.3 percent from May, according to the latest U.S. Manufacturing Technology Orders (USMTO) report, released yesterday. Orders also increased on a year-over-year basis, with the June 2011 total coming in 91.7 percent higher than the June 2010 tally.

With a year-to-date total of $2.5 billion, 2011 is up 103.9 percent over the same period last year.

"At this pace, the industry would post orders equal to all of 2010 by the end of August," Douglas K. Woods, president of the Association for Manufacturing Technology (AMT), said in a statement. "Still, industry leaders view the rest of 2011 with cautious optimism given the weakness in parts of the economy illustrated by the Dow's plunge at the beginning of August."

Based on data from member companies of the American Machine Tool Distributors' Association and AMT, the USMTO report provides regional and national consumption data for manufacturing machine tools and related equipment.

In June, four of the five major U.S. regions tracked by the USMTO showed a month-over-month rise in manufacturing technology orders. On a year-over-year basis, machine tool consumption increased in all five geographic regions tracked.

The largest monthly gain was the Western region, where manufacturing technology orders totaled $51.55 million, marking a 40.7 rise over May. The June 2011 figure was also up 99.2 percent from the same month in 2010. So far this year, consumption in the region has reached $247.35 million, up 70.5 percent compared with the first six months in 2010.

Machine tool consumption in the Central region rose to $124.86 million in June, a 30.8 percent increase over May and 126.7 percent higher than June 2010. The $677.66 million year-to-date total is 108.2 percent higher than the comparable figure in 2010.

In the Southern states, June manufacturing technology orders totaled $65.77 million, 18.5 percent more than in May and 94.2 percent more than the June 2010 figure. With a year-to-date total of $306.30 million, 2011 is up 64 percent compared with the same period last year.

Meanwhile, in the Midwest region, June orders stood at $155.39 million, 5.5 percent more than the May total and up 114 percent compared with June 2010. At $855.13 million, the 2011 year-to-date total is 157.1 percent higher than the tally for the first half of last year.

The sole month-over-month drop occurred in the Northeast region, where fewer metal-cutting equipment purchases pushed manufacturing technology orders down 2.9 percent in June. At $61.82 million, however, consumption remained 18.3 percent higher than the June 2010 figure. The year-to-date total of $367.33 million is 72.1 percent more than the comparable figure last year.

According to the latest data from the U.S. Department of Commerce, the value of manufacturers' new machinery orders fell 1.9 percent to total 31.9 billion in June. However, new orders for industrial machinery edged up 0.1 percent to total $3.4 billion. So far in 2011, total machinery orders have reached almost $190 billion, 16 percent above the prior-year level.

Machinery shipments, up four of the last five months, rose 2.8 percent to total $29.1 billion in June, the Commerce Department data indicate.

"We expect a bump in orders related to customers taking advantage of the current Bonus Depreciation rate before it is reduced in 2012," Woods said.