Machine Tool Orders YoY

Machine Tool Orders YoY compares net new orders for metal-cutting machines received by member makers under the Machine Tool Orders statistics for each calendar month. It covers domestic orders from 11 industries and foreign orders by country and region.

The publisher is the Japan Machine Tool Builders' Association (JMTBA), a nonprofit trade group. Its members make over 90% of domestic output value, so the survey covers most of the market. It is not production, sales or inventory, but new order value split into domestic and foreign demand.

The survey covers orders received during each calendar month and is published in two stages. The preliminary flash comes around the middle of the next month after 15:00 Japan time with totals and month-on-month and year-on-year ratios. The confirmed report follows toward month-end with full detail, and English follows after a short translation lag.

Each release posts the next date. The release also carries production, sales, inventory, exports, imports, order backlog, the wholesale price index and employee numbers. Confirmed data supersede the flash for the same month, with year-to-date and calendar-year rows, and no further revision schedule is published.

Year-on-year moves reflect domestic demand by industry, export demand by region, and numerically controlled machines.

• Grand total: domestic plus foreign net new orders for metal-cutting machines in millions of yen.

• Domestic orders: orders from buyers in Japan, split across 11 industries from machinery to public demand and agents.

• General machinery and motor vehicles: the two largest domestic sectors, covering construction machinery, moulds and auto parts.

• Electrical, precision and transport equipment: electronics, semiconductor, aircraft, shipbuilding and transport demand.

• Foreign orders: export orders across Asia, Europe, North America, the Middle East and other regions.

• NC machines: a memo line for numerically controlled machines, about 98% of order value.

The December 2023 release showed total orders of 127.09 billion yen. The total rose 9.7% month on month for a second straight month but fell 9.6% year on year for a twelfth straight month. The total topped 120 billion yen for the first time in 3 months. It held above 100 billion yen for a 35th straight month, so a high level coexisted with a weak yearly change.

Domestic orders fell 9.5% to 38.25 billion yen. Precision machinery stood at 160.5% of the year-earlier month, transport equipment at 181.3%, and electrical machinery at only 35.4%.

Foreign orders fell 9.6% to 88.84 billion yen. Europe rose 1.3% while Asia fell 17.5%. Full-year 2023 stood at 1,486.5 billion yen, down 15.5%.

1. Year-on-year ratio: divides the month value by the same month a year earlier and multiplies by 100. No weighting, no seasonal adjustment and no annualisation are used.

1. Year-on-year change: subtracts 100 from the ratio to give the change. Here 90.4 minus 100 equals minus 9.6%, reported as down 9.6%.

1. Month-on-month change: divides by the prior month and subtracts 100. December 2023 rose 9.7% because 127,088 divided by 115,899 times 100 equals 109.7.

1. Calendar-year ratio: divides the January to December total by the prior January to December total times 100. Full-year 2023 stood at 84.5, or down 15.5%. For example, 127,088 divided by 140,544 times 100 equals 90.4 for December 2023 totals.