February MT preliminary report, slight stagnation in both domestic and foreign demand

March 10, 2023

The Japan Machine Tool Builders’ Association (JMTBA) announced preliminary machine tool orders for February 2023, with a total amount of 124 billion yen. Both the month-on-month (MoM) and year-on-year (YoY) figures for total orders decreased for the second consecutive month and were below 130 billion yen for the second consecutive month. It was the 25th consecutive month that total orders exceeded 100 billion yen.

Domestic demand decreased 10.3% MoM to 38.9 billion yen. This was the first MoM decrease in two months and the sixth consecutive month of YoY decline. It was the first time in 21 months since May 2021 (33.2 billion yen) that domestic demand fell below 40 billion yen.

Foreign demand fell 0.6% from the previous month to 85.1 billion yen. This was the second consecutive month of MoM and YoY declines, and the second consecutive month that the amount of foreign orders received fell below 90.0 billion yen.

Both domestic and foreign demand eased somewhat, possibly due to long delivery times that have caused business negotiations to stall to some extent, amid the downward pressure on business confidence. Overall, however, there were no major declines. Further details on February orders in Japan will be provided on March 22 when the final report is released.