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Industry forecasts still indicate that or- ders for capital manufacturing equip- ment will finish the year below the levels for the previous year, with a full-fledged market comeback not expected until the second half of 2017. Business spending has remained weak amid the continued constraints of a weak energy sector and strong dollar, augmented by a climate of uncertainty around the presidential elections. August 2016 manufacturing technol- ogy orders were valued at $336.58 mil- lion, compared to $250.40 million in July and $290.29 million in August 2015. Year-to-date orders for 2016 stand at $2,431.93 million, a 12.8 per- cent decline compared to the same point in 2015. The USMTO report provides regional and national US orders data of domes- tic and imported machine tools and re- lated equipment. AMT represents and promotes US-based manufacturing technology and its members, including those who design, build, sell, and service the continuously evolving technology that lies at the heart of manufacturing. The USMTO report is compiled by AMT and all data in the report is based on the totals of actual data reported by c o m p a n i e s p a r t i c i p a t i n g i n t h e USMTO program. Automotive coating market to reach $16.24 billion by 2021 VANCOUVER, Wash.—The auto- motive coating market is expected to grow from $11.57 billion in 2016 to $16.24 billion by 2021, a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 7.02 percent. This is according to Automotive C o a t i n g M a r k e t b y R e s i n T y p e (Polyurethane, Epoxy, Acrylic), Technol- ogy (Solvent-Borne, Water-Borne, Pow- der Coating), Coat Type (Clearcoat, Basecoat, Primer, E-Coat) — Global Forecast to 2021, a new market report offered by MarketsandMarkets, an in- dustrial research firm. Demand from consumers for different colors and tex- tures, sales supportive policies, increas- ing purchasing power parity, and pur- chasing power of people in emerging economies is driving the market. Clearcoat is the largest coating type in the automotive coating market. Water- borne coatings are the fastest-growing technology segment in the market due to their low toxicity and flammability and their low VOC and HAP emis- sions. US primary aluminum production rate surveyed ARLINGTON, Va.—Based on Alu- minum Association surveys, the annual rate of US primary aluminum produc- tion totaled 739,491 metric tons (tonnes) during September 2016, a drop of 52.6 percent from the Septem- ber 2015 annual rate of 1,559,876 tonnes. Compared to the previous month, the annual rate of production rose 1.7 percent over the August 2016 annual rate of 726,829 tonnes. The year-to-date annual rate of production through September 2016 totaled 844,260 tonnes, off 48.4 percent from the 2015 year-to-date rate of 1,636,542 tonnes. Actual production for the month of September 2016 totaled 60,614 tonnes. Participating compa- nies account for 100 percent of US pri- mary aluminum production. Primary metals leading index increases in August RESTON, Va.—The primary metals l e a d i n g i n d e x a n d i t s 6 - m o n t h smoothed growth rate both increased in August. The August primary metals leading index growth rate was the fifth consecutive positive growth rate recorded in 2016, and the growth rates of May (1.6), June (2.0), July (3.9), and August (5.9) were all above the percent- age that would signal near term strength in primary metals industry activity. The nonferrous metals price index growth rate in August recorded its third consec- utive positive growth rate, and the sec- ond consecutive growth rate that would signal strength in nonferrous metal prices near term. The primary metals leading index in- creased to 158.4 in August from a re- vised 156.7 in July, and its 6-month smoothed growth rate increased to 5.9 percent in August from a revised 3.9 percent in July. The index's 6-month smoothed growth rate is a compound annual rate that measures the near-term trend. Usually, a growth rate above +1.0 percent signals an increase in metals ac- tivity, and a growth rate below -1.0 per- cent indicates a downturn in activity. POWDER COATING, November 2016 29 Preliminary steel imports increase in May WASHINGTON, D.C.—The Amer- ican Iron and Steel Institute (AISI) has reported that the US imported a total of 2,786,000 net tons (NT) of steel in May 2016, including 2,077,000 NT of finished steel. Respectively, these totals are up 12.2 percent and 1.8 percent ver- sus April final data. Year-to-date (YTD) total and finished steel imports are 12,795,000 and 10,544,000 NT, both down 31 percent versus the same period in 2015. Annualized total and finished steel imports in 2016 would be 30.7 and 25.3 million NT, down 21 percent and 20 percent respectively versus 2015. Finished steel import market share was an estimated 23 percent in May and is estimated at 24 percent YTD. AISI serves as the voice of the North American steel industry in the public policy arena and advances the case for steel in the marketplace as the preferred material of choice. For more news about steel and its applications, visit www.steel.org. US manufacturing technology orders increase in July MCLEAN, Va.—Manufacturing tech- nology orders for August 2016 were up 15.9 percent compared to August 2015 and up 34.4 percent compared to July. This is according to the Association for Manufacturing Technology (AMT) as reported by companies participating in the United States Manufacturing Tech- nology Orders (USMTO) program. "This was the first time since March 2015 that we saw growth in all six re- gions that we track for this report," said Douglas K. Woods, AMT president. " M u c h o f t h e g r o w t h c a m e f r o m smaller contract machining shops, a sign of greater activity and capacity con- straints in larger industries. Automotive and aerospace also made gains after some faltering. These are possible indi- cators that our market has hit its bottom and is signaling a comeback, albeit slowly." UPDATE: Markets