In the UK, the news for the machine tool sector is a forecasted growth for 2006 at 30%, with a further improvement of around 10% in 2007.

On November 22, 150 members from the MTA (The Manufacturing Technologies Association) and the BFPA (The British Fluid Power Association) gathered at the JCB World Headquarters in Rocester, to find out how the economic outlook for this year has turned out and what is going to happen in 2007. The news for the machine tool sector put smiles on the faces of those present, with growth for 2006 now forecast at 30% ,with a further improvement of around 10% in 2007. The decision to jointly host the seminar with BFPA, gave MTA members the opportunity to network with their customers and suppliers and to gain information advantageous to members of both associations.

'We're always looking for ways to add value to MTA events' said Stephen LeBeau, Group Marketing director of the 600 Group and chairman of the forecast event.

'As BFPA members are important customers and both associations have a long record of producing economic forecasts for their members using Oxford Economics, we thought we'd give a joint event a try.

The JCB venue was also excellent and the tour in the afternoon gave everyone a chance to have a good look round the facilities.

The feedback we received from members about the joint event and end-user facility was great, so we're looking to do something similar again next year.' * Forecast highlights - with interest rates rising and slower growth in the UK economy anticipated for next year, this might not seem to be the best time to be predicting growth in demand for capital goods, but there are positive indicators driving the forecasts.

Capacity utilisation in the UK manufacturing sector is high and although some surveys have shown lower levels of investment intentions recently, there are also increased reports of capacity as a constraint on output.

In addition, investment intentions data has a lagged relationship with the machine tool market of around 12-18 months, so the relatively strong investment intentions data earlier in 2006 is what will drive demand during 2007.

There is also a time lag in the relationship between capacity utilisation and machine tool sales (which are the subject of our forecasts) and the current high levels of utilisation are another pull on the machine tool market for the next year or so.