February Equipment Orders up 34 Percent YoY

April 12, 2021

The latest U.S. Manufacturing Technology Orders report, published by AMT–The Association For Manufacturing Technology, reveals that orders totaled $377.6 million in February 2021, a 17.8-percent increase from January 2021 and a 34.2-percent increase over February 2020. Orders for the first two months of 2021 are up 22.4 percent year over year.

“February was the fourth-straight month of year-over-year gains in manufacturing technology orders, signaling the recent strength is likely the beginning of a sustained recovery following the 2020 recession,” says AMT president Douglas K. Woods. “There was a surprising uptick in February orders from the oil and gas industry ... and medical-equipment manufacturers markedly increased orders in February, likely the result of increased hospital capacity allowing delayed elective procedures to be scheduled.

“From discussions we’ve had with manufacturers,” Woods continues, “it seems clear that companies that were more bullish in their forecasts kept their inventories at a higher level and invested more heavily in capital equipment, and those who found ways to shorten their supply chains to ensure that they could fill orders kept pace with demand and drove February’s phenomenal numbers.”

Here are all of the numbers.