New orders of metalworking machinery in September totaled $493.1 million, representing a 7.2% decline from the previous month, according to the U.S. Manufacturing Technology Orders (USMTO) Report published by The Association For Manufacturing Technology (AMT). Machinery orders through the first three quarters of 2025 reached $3.93 billion, a 17.3% increase over the same period in 2024.
The September 2025 figure is an 11% increase from September 2024 and the highest order value for the month of September since 2022. Despite the high order value, September had the second-lowest number of units ordered during the month of September since 2009.
Automotive manufacturers reflected this trend. Their orders increased to the highest level of 2025 while units hit the third-lowest level of the year.
Orders from contract machine shops declined only 1.6% from August to September.
“Despite this outperformance, job shops continue to lag the market in 2025, with the value of machinery orders up 12% in the first three quarters, compared to the 17.3% growth seen in the total market,” notes the report.
The following are September orders broken down by region as well as the percentage change from the previous month:
- Northeast: $83.1 million (-1.7%)
- Southeast: $73.0 million (-11.2%)
- North Central-East: $109.1 million (+25.1%)
- North Central-West: $83.9 million (-13.7%)
- South Central: $54.3 million (-11.2%)
- West: $89.6 million (-24.6%)
