U.S. machining operations’ purchases of cutting tools are rising steadily, up to $270.5 million in June 2026, a 12.8% from May and up 31.7% versus June 2025. Since January, U.S. cutting tool shipments have totaled $1.47 billion, a 19.3% increase over the January-June 2025 period.

The data is drawn from the monthly Cutting Tool Market Report compiled by AMT the Assn. for Manufacturing Technology together with the U.S. Cutting Tool Institute. Cutting tool shipments are taken to be a reliable indicator of overall manufacturing activity, according to the CTMR sources, because cutting tools are “the primary consumable” in the manufacturing of automotive, aerospace, construction, defense, energy, and numerous industrial products.

The CTMR differs from the monthly results on machine tool orders, which is similarly robust over a comparable period, but is a future indicator of manufacturing demand. Purchase of cutting tools are seen as indicative of manufacturers’ current operations.

“Through the first six months of 2026, our industry experienced significant double-digit growth,” according to Mike Stokey, president of USCTI and executive vice president and owner of cutting tool manufacturer Allied Machine & Engineering.

Stokey maintained that much of the increase in the value of cutting-tool shipments may be attributed to inflation resulting from “skyrocketing” raw material prices, and particularly the cost for tungsten carbide.

An August 5 decision by the U.S. Dept. of Commerce Bureau of Industry and Security will block exports of tungsten waste and lithium-ion battery scrap, in the interest of increasing domestic minerals supplies. Stokey observed that the ruling that should help with cutting tool manufacturers’ supply of tungsten carbide, adding that “the outlook for the remainder of 2026 remains cautiously optimistic.”

Bret Tayne, president of cutting tool manufacturer Everede Tool Co., is similarly guarded about the rising value of cutting tool shipments. “The question is how much of these increases can be attributed to price increases driven by rapidly escalating raw material prices, and how much are due to unit volume increases?

“Fortunately, raw material prices appear to have leveled off in recent weeks, and the cutting tool industry remains poised for growth over the next 10 to 12 months,” Tayne concluded.