U.S. Cutting Tool Orders Remain Slow

July U.S. cutting tool consumption totaled $170.95 million according to the U.S. Cutting Tool Institute (USCTI; Cleveland, OH)) and AMT – The Association For Manufacturing Technology (McLean, VA). This total, as reported by companies participating in the Cutting Tool Market Report (CTMR) collaboration, was down 8.4 percent from June’s $186.57 million and up 16.0 percent when compared with the total of $147.43 million reported for July
2016. With a year-to-date total of $1.266 billion, 2017 is up 7.1 percent when compared with 2016. These numbers and all data in this report are based on the totals reported by the companies participating in the CTMR program. The totals here represent the majority of the U.S. market for cutting tools.

“The cutting tool industry certainly is on a pace to exceed 2016 totals,” says Brad Lawton, the chairman of AMT’s Cutting Tool Product Group. “With the continuation of strong domestic economic growth, there is a potential recovery to the industry levels of 2015.”

“Cutting tool demand continues its moderate recovery though the monthly data remains volatile,” said Eli Lustgarten, the senior vice president at Longbow Securities, LLC (Independence, OH). “While July 2017 consumption showed a seasonal decline of 8.4 percent from June, results were 16 percent above the comparable month a year ago. Year-to-date consumption is up 7.1 percent and appears to be mostly demand driven with some modest restocking helped by the current moderate improvement in both on- and off-highway markets, including a recovery in the mining and oil and gas sectors. We expect cutting tool demand to continue its current moderate recovery for the remainder of 2017, despite somewhat tougher monthly comparisons and the ongoing modest recovery in manufacturing industrial production, which is up 1.2 percent year to date.”

The Cutting Tool Market Report is jointly compiled by AMT and USCTI, two trade associations representing the development, production and distribution of cutting tool technology and products. It provides a monthly statement on U.S. manufacturers’ consumption of the primary consumable in the manufacturing process – the cutting tool. Analysis of cutting tool consumption is a leading indicator of both upturns and downturns in U.S. manufacturing activity, as it is a true measure of actual production levels. Historical data for the Cutting Tool Market Report is available dating back to January 2012. This
collaboration of AMT and USCTI is the first step in the two associations working together to promote and support U.S.-based manufacturers of cutting tool technology.

www.uscti.com, www.amtonline.org