MT orders total 114 billion JPY in July 2023: Domestic demand flattens, foreign demand sluggish

August 24, 2023

The Japan Machine Tool Builders’ Association (JMTBA) announced the firm report of machine tool orders for July 2023. The total amount of orders received was 114.3 billion yen. This was the first month-on-month (MoM) decline in two months and the seventh consecutive month of year-on-year (YoY) decline, falling below 120 billion yen for the first time in two months. Both domestic and foreign demand declined from the previous month. While domestic demand remained at around 40 billion yen, which can be described as flat, foreign demand weakened somewhat, falling below 80 billion yen for the first time in 29 months, affected by declines in China, the U.S. and other markets. This was the 30th consecutive month in which total orders exceeded 100 billion yen.

Domestic demand was 39.3 billion yen, the first MoM decline in two months and the 11th consecutive month of YoY decline. Despite the partial effect of subsidies for corporate restructuring, domestic demand fell below 40.0 billion yen for the first time in two months.

Among the 11 industry sectors, 6 industries posted MoM increases, but high-value industries such as industrial machinery, electrical & precision machinery, and metal products declined. Seven industries posted YoY declines, showing that the adjustment phase in the automobile and semiconductor industries is continuing.

Foreign demand fell MoM for the fourth consecutive month and YoY for the seventh consecutive month to 74.9 billion yen, the first time in 29 months since February 2021 (75.12 billion yen) that it has fallen below 80 billion yen and the lowest this year.

Orders received by region were as follows: Orders from Asia fell below 30 billion yen for the first time in 33 months since October 2020 (28.28 billion yen), with China falling below 18 billion yen for the first time in 35 months and East Asia and other Asian countries also experiencing MoM declines. Orders from Europe remained the most stable among the three major regions, exceeding 19.0 billion yen for the second consecutive month despite a MoM decline, due to large orders from France, “others” in the EU, Turkey, and other countries. In North America, orders from the U.S. fell below 20 billion yen for the first time in 26 months, while orders from Canada (2.35 billion yen) exceeded 2 billion yen for the first time in 6 years and 1 month. Orders from Mexico (2.75 billion yen) also exceeded 2.5 billion yen for the first time in 35 months, mainly in the automobile sector. Total orders received from North America exceeded 24.0 billion yen for the fifth consecutive month.　

July Summary

	Amount (million yen)	MoM change (%)	YoY change (%)
Total Orders	114,340	93.7	80.3
Domestic total	39,385	96.4	75.8
Industrial Machinery	17,297	89.7	81.1
Motor Vehicles	8,469	116.2	63.2
Electrical & Precision Machinery	3,609	75.0	58.3
Aircraft/Shipbuilding/Transport equipment	1,301	103.1	135.7
Foreign total	74,955	92.3	82.9
Asia	29,132	87.5	68.7
Europe	19,146	98.9	96.9
North America	24,576	93.7	95.0