U.S. Cutting Tool Consumption Down Slightly

February 2019 U.S. cutting tool consumption totaled $205.6 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 collaboration, was down 4.4 percent from January’s $215.1 million. 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 a significant market share of the U.S. market for cutting tools.

“Cutting tool shipments are still off to a solid start in 2019, bucking the trend of cooler momentum in the broader durable goods category,” said Greg Daco, the chief U.S. economist at Oxford Economics. “A very solid 13 percent gain in year-to-date cutting tool shipments through February puts the category well ahead of the healthy 6 percent year-to-date rise in overall durable goods shipments. Leading manufacturing activity indicators point to healthy but gradually cooling momentum in 2019. Slower global growth, lingering trade tensions and reduced fiscal stimulus will weigh on growth while elevated private sector confidence, a solid labor market and a more dovish Fed support activity.”

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.

www.uscti.com, www.amtonline.org