Business prospects for 2008 still appear to be positive for the engineering sector, said the UK's MTA, led by direct and indirect export demand from Europe

The UK's Manufacturing Technologies Association (MTA) has analysed the export/import data for three parts of its sector covering machine tools, cutting tools and tool/work-holding equipment. * Machine tool exports - during 2007, exports of machine tools were worth GBP 471.7 million, while imports were valued at GBP 578.6 million (including 'one-off' items, estimated at around GBP 80 million).

Of these totals, CNC machine tools accounted for 63% of exports and 67% of imports.

There were significant trade surpluses in 2007 for machining centres (+GBP 26.4 million) and CNC grinding machines (+GBP 24.4 million).

There was a significant deficit for CNC Presses (-GBP 93.7 million), physico-chemical machines (-GBP 25.6 million) and CNC boring machines (-GBP 21.7 million).

Overall, said the MTA, there is a trade deficit of -GBP 28.4 million for metal cutting machines and -GBP 78.5 million in the metal forming sector.

There was also a small trade deficit for cutting tools - these are defined, where possible, as tools for use in cutting metals.

Exports during 2007 were worth GBP 198.0 million, -1.7% lower than in 2006, while imports also fell by -1.7% to GBP 214.1 million, leaving a deficit of -GBP 16.1 million.

Other European countries are the main trading partners for this part of the manufacturing technologies sector.

The USA makes it into the 'top five' list for both exports and imports and China was the fifth most important source for imports of cutting tools.

For tool/work-holding equipment, there is a trade surplus, although at +GBP 10 million, this was lower than in previous years.

In particular, the value of exports fell to GBP 75.4 million largely because the high value of exports to India in 2006 proved to be only temporary.

This is also the lowest figure since the MTA started tracking the data for this sector in 2000.

Imports of tool/work-holding equipment were also lower than in 2006 at GBP 65.3 million.

MTA statistician, Geoff Noon, commented: 'At first glance 2007 was a mixed year for international trade in the manufacturing technology sector; trends were complicated by some large 'one-off' trade especially in machine tool imports and exports of tool/work-holding equipment (in 2006) and by some changes in the machine tool manufacturing base.

Analysing these issues, we believe that the strong growth in exports of machine tools to Europe supports our view that the engineering sector there, and particularly in Germany, remains a very positive influence on the business levels being experienced by our members and their customers'.

He concluded: 'The prospects for 2008 still appear to be positive for the engineering sector, led by both direct and indirect export demand from Europe, despite the problems in some other parts of the economy.'


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