UPDATE 1-Emerson's May orders better, but trough deep

* Emerson CEO says steeling for inflation in 2010/11

* Says May orders better, to stay negative til summer 2010

* Sees acquisitions of $1.2 bln-$1.3 bln in year to Sept

* Sees restructuring costs at $250-$300 mln in year to Sept

YOKOHAMA, June 11 (Reuters) - Orders at industrial equipment maker Emerson Electric Co (EMR.N) improved slightly in May as the economy hit bottom, but the firm is steeling itself for a long trough, followed by rising prices, its CEO said.

The maker of industrial automation equipment and power and cooling systems for data centres has earmarked restructuring costs of $250 million to $300 million in its business year to September, David Farr said in an interview with Reuters.

Emerson, which is logging a double-digit operating profit margin even as sales fall, had previously said it expected restructuring efforts to cost $200 million to a little bit over $250 million.

"I'm an impatient man," said Farr, who expects recovery in its mainstay process management and industrial automation operations to come in late 2010. "You can't be restructuring facilities when recovery happens."

The St. Louis-based maker of wireless systems used in refineries and network power systems has watched orders and sales fall, as utilities and factories in Europe, the U.S. and in Japan clamp down on spending amid a global economic slowdown.

Solid demand for data centres and networks in China has helped, but remains too small to reverse the order decline trend.

May orders at Emerson, which competes with Rockwell Automation (ROK.N), United Technologies Corp (UTX.N) and Textron Inc (TXT.N), were slightly better than April's 25 percent decline from a year ago, Farr said.

But orders are weak, and will remain down 20 percent to 25 percent compared to the previous year for a couple more months, staying negative until around the summer of next year, he said.

Even when the global economy recovers, overall underlying growth will be half the high single-digit percentage point growth firms are used to expecting, Farr said, due to massive global debt, rising savings and governments' expected efforts to wean economies from the funds now flooding financial markets.

Plus prices of basic raw materials, such as oil, copper and steel are likely to rise quickly when the economy does recover, further putting pressure on growth, he said.

"We'll be dealing with deflation and quickly realise that inflation is coming," he said. "Don't be complacent right now."

HOOKED ON GROWTH

But despite the 9 percent to 11 percent sales decine the firm expects in the business year to September, and further sales declines the following year, Farr said he was still chasing a 15.7 percent operating profit margin.

Analysts say that a revision might be necessary, after the company posted a 14.1 percent margin in January-March.

The company, which competes with Yokogawa Electric (6841.T) in Japan, will revisit its targets in August, Farr said.

Emerson, which started out as a maker of small motors when it was founded in 1890, is now eyeing additional acquisitions of $200 million to $300 million this business year to chase new revenue streams in wireless technologies and energy efficiency.

It has already hit its target of $1 billion in deals made so far this year.

(Reporting by Mayumi Negishi)