The CECIMO Business Climate report for the 3rd Quarter of 2025 points to a significant improvement in the general business situation with a balance of -3% following a run of 9 quarters when it was at or below -30%.  This was despite a further fall in total orders, which is reported in their Toolbox document – it should be noted, however, that there is a significant seasonal element to orders with Q3 always the weakest of the year.

CECIMO – the European grouping of associations representing manufacturers of machine tools and additive manufacturing – is now publishing its Business Climate report as a stand-alone report.  In the latest edition, which covers the 3rd quarter of 2025, there was also a marginal improvement in capacity utilisation, although it remains weak by historical standards.

The CECIMO Business Conditions Index (BCI) is a forward-looking indicator based on expectations for demand, production, exports and employment.  Led by demand (apart from a blip in the previous survey) and export prospects, the BCI has slowly but steadily improved from its low point at the end of 2024.  Employment, as we would expect, lags the overall cycle and is currently the main drag on the BCI.

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In parallel, the latest edition of the CECIMO Toolbox – titled for Q3-25 as this is the main data period – paints a mixed picture with machine tool orders falling while industrial production improves and the global PMI is in positive territory.

The Toolbox document groups information into 6 categories covering historical data for the sector, demand, investment, the business climate, general economic indicators and information on related sectors.

The highlights of the latest report include:

  • CECIMO8 Total Orders Index decreased in the third quarter of 2025 compared to Q2-2025.
  • The EU Industrial Production Index (IPI) for Metalworking machines and machine tools increased in Q3 2025 compared to Q2 2025.
  • The Global Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) is still in the favourable zone in December 2025, even though it slightly declined.
  • CECIMO MT Production declined by 9.2% in 2024 compared to 2023. First estimates for 2025 point to a further contraction.

You can download the Toolbox and Business Climate documents from the members area of the MTA website at https://www.mta.org.uk/members-area/market-intelligence/global-mt-report/ – you will, of course, need your members login and password to access this.

Alternatively, you can access most of the data from the Toolbox on the interactive CECIMO Dashboard which can be linked to via our the members area of our website at https://www.mta.org.uk/members-area/cecimo-dashboard:  it appears quite small but if you zoom in (Ctrl-key and +-key) it can be made more readable.

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