October U.S. cutting tool consumption totaled $198.00 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 Cutting Tool Market Report (CTMR) collaboration, was up 13.2% from September's $174.92 million and up 17.2% when compared with the $169.00 million reported for October 2016. With a year-to-date total of $1.835 billion, 2017 is up 8.0% when compared with 2016.
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.
"The stars continue to align with consumer confidence at an all-time high. Aerospace and automotive industries continue to stay strong along with the rest of the industrial economy, which bodes well for the cutting tool industry," said Steve Stokey, Executive Vice President and Owner of Allied Machine & Engineering Corp. "We see this with the 8.0% year to date increase as the year goes on, and the numbers continue to improve. With this October's 17% growth, it suggests that the upward trend is accelerating. This is good news for our in 2018."
"Cutting tool orders in October support the strengthening we expect in manufacturing activity in 2018," said Eli Lustgarten, President at ESL Consultants.
Currently, economic conditions that would support gains in manufacturing are on the upswing. Third quarter GDP growth of 3.3% was led by strength in business investment (up 4.7%) and equipment (up 10.4%). In addition, the ISM manufacturing index remains near 60%, the strongest performance since 2004, implying solid growth in 2018.
"The next wave of economic growth is likely to be led by strong global activity, including exports, while consumer spending trends reflect a maturing economy. Cutting tool demand should continue to improve next year to double-digit levels with more to follow if pro-growth economic policies such as tax cuts and reform are adopted," said a company spokesperson.
For more information contact:
USCTI
1300 Sumner Ave.
Cleveland, OH 44115-2851
216-241-7333
uscti@uscti.com
www.uscti.com
AMT
7901 Jones Branch Drive, Ste. 900
McLean, VA 22102-4206
703-893-2900 / 800-524-0475
amt@amtonline.org
www.amtonline.org