Following better-than-usual November, 2025 orders of metalworking machinery beat 2024 in 11 months
By Kristin Bartschi
New orders of metalworking machinery totaled $437.9 million in November, according to the latest U.S. Manufacturing Technology Orders Report published by AMT – The Association For Manufacturing Technology.
This represented a 19.6% decrease from October and nearly equaled the orders in November 2024, with a difference of just over $2 million. Machinery orders tracked by USMTO through November 2025 totaled $4.92 billion, a 17.8% increase over the first 11 months of 2024.
End-of-year manufacturing technology orders tend to increase as firms seek to exhaust capital equipment budgets and maximize tax benefits. November 2025 underscored this trend while also continuing the elevated order activity that began in August. November 2025 orders were nearly 26% above the typical November level, and except for the month prior, November saw the largest three-month cumulative order value since May 2022.
While nearly all customer industries declined in November, there were bright spots. Both contract machine shops and manufacturers in the aerospace sector decreased machinery order values by only slightly less than the overall market.
Primary metal manufacturers reversed a three-month trend of declines with significant order increases, as North America is one of the few regions that has increased steel and aluminum production through 2025. Manufacturers of industrial machinery also increased order values, as did manufacturers specializing in molds, metalworking machinery, and specialty tools and dies. These additional capacity additions late in 2025 may signal a coming surge of manufacturing activity throughout 2026.
Despite the decline in order value experienced in November 2025, the metalworking machinery market remains on solid ground. Even without a tally of December activity, year-to-date orders are nearly 5% higher than all of 2024. While tax incentives and easing financial conditions have the potential to spur additional investment in manufacturing technology, a resurgence of geopolitical unrest and growing uncertainty could derail this promising path.
INDUSTRIAL SUPPLY MAGAZINE
The November/December issue of Industrial Supply magazine features an in-depth cover story about Applied Industrial Technologies. Plus, we're featuring articles by contributing writers Dr. Bharani Nagarathnam and Frank Hurtte, as well as interviews with numerous product and distribution industry experts.
