The latest US orders data from our colleagues at AMT suggests that the recent growth in the machine tool market, from its low point last August, may have tailed off, although we need to be careful not to read too much into one months data. The downward trend for the cutting tools business has, however, continued its slide from the peak in May 2024.
The US Manufacturing Technology Orders (USMTO) programme tracks orders in the US market, based on the reports from participants in the survey. In the first five months of 2025 (January to May), total machine tool orders were +15% higher than in the same months of 2024. The rolling 12-month total (comparing the sum of the past 12 months – June 2024 to May 2025 – with the previous 12 months) shows growth of +6%.
The AMT press release notes that the value of orders in May was +16% higher than the average for that month; the data is not seasonally adjusted, so this gives an indication of any calendar driven patterns. Increasing demand for electricity to data centres is driving investment in power transmission equipment and the aerospace sector remains a robust source of business. A strong 2nd half of the year is expected as a result of some major investment incentives in the latest tax and spending policy announcements.
The US Cutting Tool Market Report (CTMR) tracks orders for tooling on the same basis. In this part of our sector, shipments in the first 5 months of 2025 were -5% lower than the same months of 2024 (January to May); the 12-month rolling total is only down by -4% but this is had gradually accelerated in each month of 2025. The press release suggests that many customers are in a “wait-and-see” scenario, with the defence sector the only one to see much positive activity.
You can download the press release for the USMTO survey from the AMT web-site at https://www.amtonline.org/topic/intelligence, with the CTMR release published on the USCTI web-site at www.uscti.com (go to the News tab); alternatively, you can request either or both releases from MTA and we can make sure you get them when they are published each month. We have attached a set of charts tracking the rolling 12-month totals from these two surveys which you can download below.