Metalworking Machinery Manufacturers NAICS 3335

Nov 20, 2025 - Value Rises, Units Fall

• New orders of metalworking machinery totaled $493.1 million in September, a 7.2% decline from August, but an 11% increase from September 2024, according to the latest data from the Association of Manufacturing Technology’s (AMT) US Manufacturing Technology Orders Report. Orders through September totaled $3.93 billion, a 17.3% increase over the first three quarters of 2024. September’s order value was the highest in three years and the first time since September 2011 that orders exceeded the level from the prior year, per AMT. Despite strong growth in order values, the number of units ordered continued to grow at a slower pace, with September 2025 having the second-lowest number of units ordered in September since 2009. Auto makers, for example, increased their orders to the highest level in 2025, yet units were the third-lowest for the year.
• US factory activity, a demand driver for metalworking machinery, shrank in October for an eighth straight month, driven by a pullback in production and tepid demand, The Wall Street Journal reported in November citing the latest data from the Institute for Supply Management (ISM). In October, ISM’s Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) fell to 48.7 from 49.1 in September (a reading under 50 indicated contraction), with production, new orders, and employment all contracting, reversing short-lived gains seen in previous months. Six manufacturing industries reported growth in October with Primary Metals, Food, Beverage & Tobacco Products, and Transportation Equipment topping the list. Twelve industries reported contraction for the month including Textile Mills, Apparel, Leather & Allied Products, Furniture & Related Products, and Machinery. WSJ noted that tariffs and their impact on prices and demand featured highly in respondents’ answers to ISM’s survey.

• Tariffs on steel and aluminum imports to the US have a direct impact on small fabricators’ cost structures, bidding strategies, and overall competitiveness, according to Exiil, a provider of software to metal manufacturers. In March, President Trump raised steel and aluminum import tariffs to the US by 25% (since doubled to 50%), ending all country exemptions, in addition to hiking tariffs on China, according to Reuters. Russian aluminum imports carry a tariff of 200%. Beyond raw metal, the US has increasingly added “downstream” or “derivative” products – such as stamped parts, fasteners, tubing, wire, or other items with high steel/aluminum content – to existing Section 232 tariffs. As a result, metal fabricators face higher materials costs. Even businesses that source metals domestically are likely to pay more for metal as US mills often raise their prices when foreign competitors’ costs go up – because the “floor” of the market shifts.
• Producer prices for metalworking machinery manufacturers rose 3.6% in August compared to a year ago, after rising 4.2% in the previous August-versus-August annual comparison, according to the latest US Bureau of Labor Statistics data. Industry producer prices were at a record high in August, extending a steep and steady climb that kicked off in 2021. Employment by metalworking machinery manufacturers shrank 2.5% year over year in July, while average industry wages rose 9.9% over the same period to a new high of $29.61 per hour, BLS data show. Employment by the industry is contracting amid declining new orders and shipments earlier in the year, Census Bureau data shows.