The first half of 2021’s MT industry: orders, production, exports, and imports (3/5)

The supply and demand results for Japan’s machine tools in the first half of 2021 have been settled. The amount of machine tool orders has recovered substantially from the blow of the COVID-19 disaster. SEISANZAI Japan editorial team will continue to report on the supply and demand performance of the Japanese machine tool industry in the first half of 2021.

Compact vertical MCs boosted production

In the first half of 2021, machine tool production amount increased by 18.4% year-on-year（YoY） to 442,912 million yen. The production peaked in the first half of 2018 and then declined, but this time it turned to increase for the first time in six quarters. However, the pace of production recovery was slower than that of total orders.

Production volume jumped 65.3% YoY to 35,686 units. The driving force was inexpensive compact vertical machining centers（MCs）. As the demand for electronic devices increased in China and other countries, the production of compact vertical MCs also increased rapidly. The unit price per machine decreased by 30.7% to 12.4 million yen from the same period last year.

By model, vertical MCs, horizontal MCs, NC gear-cutting machines, and NC electrical discharge machines all saw YoY growth. However, sales of NC lathes and NC grinders were lower than the same period last year.

SEISANZAI Japan editorial team will introduce the export trend of Japanese machine tools in the first half of 2021 tomorrow.

The first half of 2021’s MT industry: orders, production, exports, and imports (1/5)

The first half of 2021’s MT industry: orders, production, exports, and imports (2/5)