US cutting tool orders down 9.9% from October 2020

November 2020 U.S. cutting tool consumption totaled $151.3 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 collaboration, was down 9.9% from October's $167.9 million and down 20% when compared with the $189.1 million reported for November 2019. With a year-to-date total of $1.7 billion, 2020 is down 22.7% when compared with November 2019.

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.

According to Brad Lawton, chairman of AMT’s Cutting Tool Product Group, “As we know the cutting tool industry is dependent on the health of the nation's manufacturing economy, and we see recovery is in process. The industry numbers reflect the usual year end fluctuations, but in general there is optimism for continued recovery.”

"The year-over-year numbers reflect what we are seeing in our business and hearing from the metalworking industry in general. We see the effects of the pandemic again in this month's report, but there is some improvement over the lows of last summer. In general, orders for consumable products for ongoing production are faring better than new capital equipment but low interest rates, relatively easy access to capital and another round of PPP for small companies under 300 employees, might help speed up this recovery for 2021,” comments Chris Kaiser, executive advisor at Big Kaiser.

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.