Machine Tool Consumption Collapsing

September 8, 2003

THE NEXT COMING WEEKS OR MONTHS COULD BE THE STAGE FOR AN
ABSOLUTE TRADE WAR BETWEEN CHINA (AND THE REST OF ASIA?)

U.S. MACHINE-TOOL CONSUMPTION DURING JANUARY-JULY DOWN 15.5% FROM LAST YEAR'S DEPRESSION LEVEL during the same period, proof of the urgent need for infrastructure-vectored recovery policy.

U.S. industry consumed only $157.06 million worth of machine tools in July, down a whopping 33.7% from the level in June, according to a joint report
by the American Machine Tool Distributors' Association and the Association of Manufacturing Technology.

Yet, July's machine tool consumption was touted a s a sign of the mythical "recovery", because it was up 8.2% from the level in July 2002 -- a near-record low.

Moreover, from January-July, U.S. machine tool consumption has fallen by 15.5% compared to the same period in 2002, when it had already plunged by 63% from the level in 1997.

Machine tools, representing the discovery and application of new physical principles, are the means by which mankind alters nature to improve his existence.

[Source: AMTDA/AMT, wires, September 8, 2003]

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