U.S. Cutting Tool YTD Consumption down 5% in December
December U.S. cutting tool consumption totaled $156.48 million according to the U.S. Cutting Tool Institute (USCTI) and AMT – The Association For Manufacturing Technology. This total, as reported by companies participating in the the Cutting Tool Market Report (CTMR) collaboration, was up 1.4% from November’s $154.27 million and down 15.4% when compared with the total of $185.07 million reported for December 2014. With a year-to-date total of $2,135.07 million, 2015 was down 5.0% when compared with 2014.
These numbers and all data in this report are based on the totals actually reported by the companies participating in the CTMR program. The totals here represent the majority of the U.S. market for cutting tools.
“The December’14 to December ‘15 decrease of 15.4% is most reflective of the current environment in the Cutting Tool industry,” says Steve Stokey, President of USCTI. “We started 2015 strong with a significant decline during the second half of the year. The drop in oil prices, which softened the market, along with the strengthening dollar caused a dramatic decrease in demand in the last half of 2015.”
Overall, manufacturing in general has had some challenges. According to William A. Strauss, Senior Economist and Economic Advisor to the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, “The strengthening dollar has been a very strong headwind facing U.S. manufacturers. The real value of the trade-weighted dollar has increased nearly 20% in the past year and a half. This has caused U.S. goods to be 20% more expensive on average to foreign consumers, and vice versa, imports are now 20% less expensive to U.S. consumers. This has led to a substantial increase in the trade deficit over the same time period.”
The Cutting Tool Market Report is jointly compiled by AMT and USCTI, two trade associations representing the development, production and distribution of cutting tool technology and products. It provides a monthly statement on U.S. manufacturers’ consumption of the primary consumable in the manufacturing process – the cutting tool. Analysis of cutting tool consumption is a leading indicator of both upturns and downturns in U.S. manufacturing activity, as it is a true measure of actual production levels.
Historical data for the Cutting Tool Market Report is available dating back to January 2012. This collaboration of AMT and USCTI is the first step in the two associations working together to promote and support U.S.-based manufacturers of cutting tool technology.
