JP Market | Monthly Machine Tool Orders （April 2026)

Monthly Machine Tool Orders （April 2026)

The total value of machine tool orders in April was 188.97 billion yen. This decreased 2.3% compared to March 2026 and marked the first month of month-on-month decline in three months.

However, this figure represented an increase of 45.1% compared to the same month of the previous year and marked the tenth consecutive month of year-on-year growth. The total value of orders exceeded 120 billion yen for the 14th consecutive month, reaching the second highest level on record, following last month's 193.47 billion yen. While machine tool orders in April were slightly down compared to the previous month, they remained at a high level, exceeding 40% year-on-year. Looking ahead, further growth in equipment demand is expected, driven by the effects of policy support in domestic demand and robust demand for AI and robotics in foreign demand, which will dispel uncertainty caused by the international situation. Domestic orders fell by 2.4% from March to 49.29 billion yen.

Nevertheless, this figure showed an increase of 43.4% over the same month of the previous year. Looking at major industries, orders compared to March fell by 14.6% in industrial machinery, rose by 34.0% in motor vehicles, by 5.8% in electrical & precision machinery, and by 30.7% in aircraft, shipbuilding & transport equipment. Foreign orders fell by 2.3% from March to 139.68 billion yen, marking the first month of month-on-month decline in two months. In contrast, foreign orders showed an increase of 45.8% over the same month of the previous year, and this marked the nineteenth consecutive month of year-on-year growth. By region, orders from Asia rose by 1.6% over March to 76.27 billion yen. This increased 58.1% over the same month of the previous year. Orders from Europe fell by 9.4% from March to 20.28 billion yen. This was an increase of 47.2% over the same month of the previous year. Orders from North America fell by 4.7% from March, amounting to 41.06 billion yen. This figure showed an increase of 28.2% over the same month of the previous year.

*This article is reprinted from JMTBA (Japan Machine Tool Builders' Association)

Source: https://www.jmtba.or.jp/english/wjmtbap/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/JMTBA-NOTES-2026-05.pdf