August 2021 U.S. cutting tool consumption totaled $163.5 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 up 0.7 percent from July's $162.3 million and up 27.4 percent when compared with the $128.3 million reported for August 2020. With a year-to-date total of $1.3 billion, 2021 is up 7 percent when compared to the same period in 2020.
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.
Bret Tayne, President of USCTI, noted, “Although year-over-year growth in the cutting tool sector for April through August has been robust, we remain well below 2019 levels. Our growth path remains uneven, and steadier improvement is frustrated by policy and other factors. That said, colleagues, supply chain partners, and end-user customers that I have spoken to recently seem to be universally confident in the near term.”
Pat McGibbon, Chief Knowledge Officer of AMT, commented, “We think the outlook for cutting tools is bright. Cutting tool shipments’ year-over-year moving average has been 24 percent over the past four months, and machine tool orders are up 48 percent year-to-date from 2020 levels. We see the severe difference in growth rates between consumables and equipment as a reflection of the challenge downstream customers are having in securing materials and parts to machines. It is just a matter of time before these bottlenecks break loose.”
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