Japan MT orders keep high level, but with some concerns

February 9, 2022

Japan Machine Tool Builders’ Association (JMTBA) announced preliminary figures of Japan’s machine tool orders for January 2022. The total amount of orders received was 143.0 billion yen, up 61.4% from the same month last year. The month-on-month (MoM) increase was 2.8%, and total orders exceeded 140 billion yen for the first time in two months. This is the 15th consecutive month of year-on-year (YoY) increase and the 12th consecutive month of exceeding 100 billion yen.

Domestic demand declined 13.4% MoM to 44.3 billion yen, falling below 50 billion yen for the first time in five months. There are concerns about the impact of the spread of Omicron infection and prolonged delivery times due to parts shortages.

Foreign demand increased 58.7% YoY and 12.2% MoM to 98.7 billion yen. This is the 15th consecutive month of YoY increase and the first time in two months that the foreign demand has exceeded 95 billion yen. The amount of orders tends to fall in January due to a cold wave in North America, but this year’s figure was up significantly from the previous month, suggesting that large orders boosted the figure.