2021.03.1500:14:00UTC+00Japan Core Machine Orders Drop 4.5% On Month In January

The value of core machine orders in Japan slipped a seasonally adjusted 4.5 percent on month in January, the Cabinet Office said on Monday - standing at 841.7 billion yen.

That exceeded expectations for a decline of 5.5 percent following the upwardly revised 5.3 percent increase in December (originally 5.2 percent).

On a yearly basis, core machine orders climbed 1.5 percent - again beating forecasts for a decline of 0.2 percent after spiking 11.8 percent in the previous month.

The forecast for Q1 2021 core machine orders suggests a decline of 6.0 percent on quarter and 5.2 percent on year.

Machine orders from the government plummeted 27.9 percent on month and 40.1 percent on year to 219.8 billion yen. Orders from overseas rose 6.4 percent on month and 15.5 percent on year to 1,025.1 billion yen. Orders from agencies gained 4.7 percent on month and dropped 8.7 percent on year at 113.3 billion yen.

Orders from the private sector sank 4.9 percent both on month and on year to 979.1 billion yen.

Manufacturing orders were down 4.2 percent on month, while non-manufacturing orders sank 8.6 percent.

The total value of machinery orders received by 280 manufacturers operating in Japan shed 1.7 percent on month and 0.8 percent on year to 2,397.4 billion yen.