Demand for Machine Tool Market in Japan Still Unstable in October

According to the preliminary data of machine tool orders published by the Japan Machine Tool Industry Association (JMTBA), in October 2010, Japan's machine tool orders amounted to 80.15 billion yen, a decrease of 12.96% from the previous month's 91.714 billion yen, but the total order amount was lower than in 2009. It still grew 70.9% in October. From January to October 2010, Japan's accumulated machine tool orders amounted to 783.057 billion yen, a year-on-year increase of 157.4%.

In terms of domestic and international demand, in October, domestic machine tool orders amounted to 25.331 billion yen, a decrease of 6.6% from the previous quarter, but an increase of 60.9% year-on-year. From January to October, domestically accumulatively set aside 245.029 billion yen, a year-on-year increase of 93.4%. In October, orders for overseas machine tools were 54.819 billion yen, a decrease of 15.5% from the previous quarter, but a year-on-year increase of 75.9%. From January to October, accumulated overseas orders amounted to 538.208 billion yen, a substantial year-on-year increase of 203.1%.

The financial crisis caused a sharp drop in Japanese machine tool orders. However, with the gradual recovery of the global economy, driven by the Asian market led by China, the recovery rate of Japanese overseas machine tool orders was significantly faster than the growth rate of Japanese domestic orders. Currently, orders for overseas machine tools are increasing. Already near the pre-crisis level. However, in recent months, orders for domestic machine tools have continued to decline in Japan, and orders for foreign markets have also dropped significantly in October. This shows that current market demand is not stable and there are still many uncertainties in future development. It can be expected that Japan's machine tools will rebound sharply from last year's full year in 2010, but it will take a long time to recover to the level before the financial crisis.