Economy

Real Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in the USA decreased by an annual rate of 0.3 percent in the first quarter of 2025 (January, February, and March), reports the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis.

The machine tool industry in Italy recorded an increase in the first quarter of 2025. This was due to a rise in domestic orders. The foreign business continues to be problematic.

Many manufacturers of precision tools used the ECTA CONFERENCE 2025 from March 20 to 22 in Turin for international exchange

The order intake for metalworking machines, measured by the U.S. Manufacturing Technology Orders Report published by AMT - The Association For Manufacturing Technology, amounted to a total of $389.9 million in February 2025, an increase of 9.9% compared to January and 12.5% compared to January 2025.

The Mikron Group has concluded the year 2024 with a solid result and enters the business year 2025 with a good order backlog

In February, the order books in mechanical engineering unexpectedly filled up by a real 8 percent. Part of this increase is due to large-scale business, and part is due to component business.

The business of the machine factory Berthold HERMLE AG was expected to be influenced by the cautious machine tool economy in 2024.

The German machine tool industry recorded a decline in 2024, but hopes for a recovery in the second half of 2025 with a new federal government.

Orders for manufacturing technology amounted to a total of $357.3 million in January 2025, which is 29.8% less than in December, but 5.7% more than in January 2024. While the order value was 16.2% higher than in an average January, the ordered units were the lowest in a January since 2016.

As part of this, the German locations in Besigheim and Empfingen will be closed. The products previously manufactured at the two locations will henceforth be produced at other sites of the CERATIZIT Group.

In January, mechanical engineering also recorded a slight decline in orders. Foreign orders had a stabilizing effect, while the order volume in the domestic market is a cause for concern.

The USA and China remain the leaders in the export ranking of the machinery industry in 2024. Overall, exports have fallen by a nominal 5 percent to just under 200 billion euros.

Mechanical engineering feels the impact of the recession - yet companies have only reduced their workforce by just under 1 percent in 2024. Even now, core staff should be retained as much as possible.

The standard parts manufacturer Meusburger is addressing the current challenges in tool and mold making with a strategic combination of efficiency enhancement and increased digitalization.