Japan's machine tool orders fell by 11.9% in August 2011

According to the latest machine tool order data released by the Japan Machine Tool Industry Association (JMTBA), in August 2011, Japan's machine tool orders amounted to 98.962 billion yen, a decrease of 12.7% from the previous month's 113.242 billion yen, but still compared to 2010. 8 The 85.851 billion yen of the month increased by 15.3%. After Japan’s machine tool orders exceeded 100 billion yen for seven consecutive months, the single-month order amount fell below 100 billion yen for the first time this year. From January to August 2011, Japan's accumulated machine tool orders amounted to 886.625 billion yen, an increase of 45.1% over the same period of 2010.

From the perspective of domestic and international demand, in August, Japan's domestic machine tool orders amounted to 37.517 billion yen, an increase of 4.9% from the previous quarter and an increase of 31.1% year-on-year. In August, Japan's overseas orders for machine tools amounted to 61.445 billion yen, a decrease of 20.8% from the previous quarter, but an increase of 7.4% year-on-year. From January to August, domestic orders for Japanese machine tools accumulated to 281.248 billion yen, an increase of 46% year-on-year; cumulative overseas orders were 605.37 billion yen, an increase of 44.7% year-on-year.

In August, the number of orders for Japanese machine tools continued to fall month-on-month, and the year-on-year growth rate also dropped again. Affected by the increase of uncertainties in the world economy and the continuous development of debt issues in Europe and the United States, overseas machine tool orders have shrunk significantly in the past two months, and dropped by more than 20% in August, indicating that the future market outlook is still uncertain. At the same time, downstream Japanese manufacturing industries, such as the automobile and machinery manufacturing industries, are relatively affected by the earthquake and tsunami, and it is expected that domestic orders in Japan will not be fully restored in the near future.