U.S. manufacturers consumed $213.4 million worth of cutting tools during May 2019, an increase of 2.9% from the April total and a decline of just 0.8% from the May 2018 cutting-tool consumption total. The results are reported in the latest Cutting Tool Market Report issued by the U.S. Cutting Tool Institute (USCTI) and AMT – the Assn. for Manufacturing Technology.
The total is based on data reported by participating manufacturers and distributors whose activities represent a significant share of the entire U.S. market for cutting tools.
“The cutting-tool market is now showing indications of the promised overall slowdown in the economy,” according Brad Lawton, chairman of AMT’s Cutting Tool Product Group.
For the current year-to-date, U.S. manufacturers’ cutting-tool consumption total is $1.1 billion, meaning that through five months of data 2019 consumption is 5.2% higher than the January-May 2018 total.
Cutting tools are a primary consumable product for machine shops and other manufacturers, making the CTMR a reliable index to the current pace of manufacturing activity overall. The CTMR is separate from AMT’s U.S. Manufacturing Technology Orders report, which gauges future business activity. The USMTO report has been tracking the declining pace of business activity since late 2018.
“The YTD/YTD numbers are no longer showing the double digit growth of 2018,” Lawton continued commenting on the May 2019 result. "Summer domestic slowdowns, international trade issues and global declining economies are confirming a changing cutting-tool market.”
