U.S. cutting tool consumption totaled $149.5 million in February, according to the U.S. Cutting Tool Institute (USCTI) and the Association for Manufacturing Technology (AMT). This total was up 3.3% from January’s $144.8 million and down 17.1% when compared with the $180.3 million reported for February 2020. With a year-to-date total of $294.3 million, 2021 is down 20.2% when compared to February 2020.

These numbers and all data in this report are based on the totals reported by the companies participating in the CTMR program. The totals here represent the majority of the U.S. market for cutting tools.

Bret Tayne, president of USCTI, said in a press release: “The recently completed February cutting tool sales statistics continues the trend of slow improvement in our industry. Other sectors of the economy appear to be recovering at a faster pace. Factors such as supply chain challenges, reluctance in a portion of the workforce to return and rising material prices may be causing some drag on the cutting tool industry’s emergence from the COVID downturn.”

“Despite the deep freeze over the central U.S. and the severe supply chain disruption causing some automotive plants to shut down, cutting tool orders showed improvement compared with all but two months since March 2020. With the Gardner Business Index: Metalworking at an all-time high with strong new orders, increasing production, and rising backlogs, I expect to see significant growth in cutting tool orders in second and third quarters of 2021,” said Steve Kline, Jr, chief data officer at Gardner Business Media.

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