Cutting tool consumption climbed in December
December U.S. cutting tool consumption of $176.04 million was up 4.4% from November and 12.5% higher than December 2015.
According to the U.S. Cutting Tool Institute (USCTI) and AMT – The Association For Manufacturing Technology, the December total compared to $156.49 million reported for December 2015. With a year-to-date total of $2.042 billion, 2016 is down 4.3% when compared with 2015.
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 market data continues to show signs of strengthening,” said Steve Stokey, president of USCTI. “There is a great deal of positive chatter in most manufacturing sectors that would indicate there are high expectations for 2017. This should drive higher demand for cutting tools.”
“Cutting tool orders improved the last five months of 2016. In three of the last five months, cutting tool orders increased compared with year prior levels. In fact, December increased 12 percent, which was the fastest rate of growth since December 2014," said Steve Kline, Jr., director of market intelligence at Gardner Business Media. "Gardner’s metalworking business index leads cutting tool orders by six to 12 months. The index has been improving for some time. In January, the index showed that the metalworking industry grew for the first time in nearly two years. Therefore, I expect cutting tool orders to increase in 2017.”
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