Machine shops and other U.S. manufacturers consumed $179.6 million worth of cutting tools during October, signaling growing industrial activity following some market uncertainty in September. The new total is 10.1% higher than the previous month and 11.7% higher than the year-ago figure from October 2020.
According to the U.S. Cutting Tool Institute (USCTI) and AMT – The Association For Manufacturing Technology, which jointly issue the monthly Cutting Tool Market Report, the current year’s consumption total stands at $1.6 billion, meaning the 10-month total for 2021 is 7.9% higher than comparable figure for 2020.
“October sales numbers indicate that monthly and year-to-date sales in the cutting-tools industry continue to grow in comparison to 2020,” commented Bret Tayne, president of Everede Tool Co. “The expected improvement in the prospects for our industry’s customers, such as aerospace and automotive, bode well for the continuation of that trend.”
Because cutting tools are required in the production of a wide variety of parts and components supplied to a range of industrial sectors, cutting-tool consumption is taken as an index of current manufacturing activity, comparable to manufacturers’ shipments of durable goods.
“After moving sideways over the previous two months, which were hampered by supply-chain snarls, the sharp rise in October reflects strong demand from key customers, such as those making medical equipment and off-road machinery,” offered Mark Killion, director of U.S. Industries at Oxford Economics, and cited by USCTI and AMT.
