May U.S. cutting tool consumption totaled $165.68 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 down 4.6% from April’s $173.64 million and down 4.1% when compared with the total of $172.81million reported for May 2015. With a year-to-date total of $855.45 million, 2016 was down 9.1% 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.
Brad Lawton, chairman of AMT’s Cutting Tool Product Group said “The cutting tool industry continues to show negative results for month to month and year to date sales performance, which reflects the anxiety in the nation’s manufacturing industry. This condition will more than likely continue through the end of 2016.”
“While cutting tool orders contracted for the 13th month in a row, the rate of contraction has slowed down in recent months. In fact, the annual rate of change appears to have peaked and should contract at a slower rate in upcoming months." said Steve Kline, Director of Market Intelligence at Gardner Business Media. "The trend of decelerating contraction is likely to continue as interest rates remain low and durable goods new orders have grown in recent months.”
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.
Read the full press release including graphs, here.