Cutting tool shipments increase from 2024 to 2025

Shipments of cutting tools, measured by the Cutting Tool Market Report, a collaboration between AMT - The Association For Manufacturing Technology and the U.S. Cutting Tool Institute (USCTI), totaled $215 million in December 2025. The total increased 4.3% from November 2025 and 17.1% from December 2024. For full-year 2025, shipments totaled $2.56 billion, up 2.5% from 2024.

"2025 marked the fifth straight year of higher orders since the trough in 2020,” says Eli Lustgarten, president of ESL Consultants. “The ISM Manufacturing index signaled expansion for the first time in 12 months in December 2025. Cutting tool demand is likely to improve by about 5% to 10% in 2026, with lagging unit sales finally catching up to dollar-sales growth. Aerospace and defense should remain strong; data centers and energy are projected to be robust; and construction markets should also improve. The key to the magnitude of improvement in 2026 may be the auto sector, which was relatively flat in 2025 and continues to face supply chain issues and weakening electric vehicle demand."

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 cutting tools, the primary consumable in the manufacturing process. Cutting tool consumption is a leading indicator of both upturns and downturns in U.S. manufacturing activity, as it measures true production levels.