Machine shops and other domestic manufacturers consumed $201.4 million worth of cutting tools during September 2023, falling -8.1% from the August total in a reliable indicator of overall manufacturing activity. The result from the monthly Cutting Tool Market Report also shows that cutting-tool consumption remains 4.3% higher than the September 2022 figure, and the year-to-date total for consumption at $1.85 billion is 8.1% higher than the comparable figure for January-September 2022.
The volume of cutting tool consumption is indicative of overall manufacturing activity because those purchases reflect activity across a range of manufacturing market segments served by machining operations.
The CTMR report is presented by the U.S. Cutting Tool Institute (USCTI) and AMT – the Association for Manufacturing Technology. CTMR data is based on purchases reported by participating companies who comprise the majority of the U.S. market for cutting tools.
"The third-quarter and September data for 2023 indicates that manufacturing output is still strong based on cutting tool data," stated AMT Cutting Tool Products Group chairman Jack Burley. "In some regions, however, consumption has flattened compared to 2022, while other regions have increased due to the primary mix of industries they support overall activity is reasonably good and should continue into the fourth quarter."
