| Cutting tools are a primary consumable product for machine shops and other manufacturers. The monthly Cutting Tool Market Report offers cutting-tool consumption data as an indicator of U.S. manufacturing activity, comparable to Manufacturers’ Durable Goods Shipments. |
“2017 continues to be a much stronger year for cutting tools than 2016,” according to Steve Stokey, president of USCTI. “High consumer confidence is a strong indicator that cutting tools sales will continue to improve through the second half of the year.”
There are some concerns over the direction of future consumption levels. The CTMR quoted Jarvis Cutting Tools president Costikyan Jarvis, who acknowledged that “macroeconomic” data (PMI, capacity utilization, employment data) supports a forecast for slow and steady economic growth.
However, Jarvis expressed some concern about the potential for global politics, Federal Reserve lending rate increases, and rising federal deficits, to negatively affect growth.
Jarvis also wished for more improvement in some specific “microeconomic” indices, citing “housing starts, agriculture and oil.”
He remained upbeat, however. “From the cutting tool producers viewpoint, our revenue growth is being driven by the strong market segments while Caterpillar’s recent improved outlook may signal growth in some of the remaining segments,” Jarvis stated.
