McLean, Virginia – February U.S. cutting tool consumption totaled $173.38 million according to the U.S. Cutting Tool Institute (USCTI) and AMT – The Association For Manufacturing Technology. This total, as reported by companies participating in the Cutting Tool Market Report (CTMR) collaboration, was up 9.3% from January’s $158.65 million and down 4.0% when compared with the total of $180.56 million reported for February 2015.
These numbers and all data in this report are based on the totals actually reported by the companies participating in the CTMR program. The totals here represent the majority of the U.S. market for cutting tools.
“With a slow start to 2016 it is nice to see a stronger February,” says Steve Stokey, president of USCTI. “2015 had a much stronger beginning and slower second half. It would appear that 2016 is shaping up as forecasted by most experts. We should see the months continue to improve and 2016 continuously gain on 2015 as the year progresses.”
Adding to the optimistic outlook, Greg Daco, head of U.S. macroeconomics at Oxford Economics says “Cutting tool shipments experienced an encouraging rebound in February despite soft durable goods orders and shipments. Looking forward, most leading manufacturing indicators point to modest growth with domestically oriented sectors supported by solid business conditions. Global headwinds will continue to restrain activity, but the drag should gradually dissipate.”
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.
What is the Cutting Tool Market Report?
The Cutting Tool Market Report (CTMR) program measures gross cutting tool shipments each month based on data collected from manufacturers by the United States Cutting Tool Institute (USCTI) and AMT - The Association For Manufacturing Technology. The report provides national U.S consumption data of domestic and imported tools, including domestically produced and imported.
What are cutting tools?
Cutting tools are used in machine tools to shape raw material into parts or remove additional material from existing parts. Examples of cutting tools include drills, countersinks, taps, milling cutters, boring bars, indexable inserts, and many others.
Why is the CTMR important?
Cutting tools are a consumable product used to turn raw materials into intermediate goods and intermediate goods into finished goods. Because tooling needs to be replaced relatively frequently, trends in U.S. cutting tool shipments are a good measure of overall manufacturing activity. Official Census statistics on cutting tools are only published once a year, so the monthly CTMR figures are important to business owners and decision makers who need a more frequent indicator of market conditions. Cutting tools have much shorter lead times than machine tools and other capital equipment, which means sales figures are much less volatile from month to month and react more quickly to changes in manufacturing activity.
Who owns the CTMR?
The report is a joint effort of the United States Cutting Tool Institute (USCTI) and AMT - The Association For Manufacturing Technology. Each organization collects and reports statistics via survey, and the CTMR figures represent a combined total after accounting for overlapping survey contributions.
Source: AMT & USCTI
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