Manufacturers’ cutting tool consumption is an indicator of overall manufacturing activity, similar to shipments of durable goods. “The strengthening dollar has been a very strong headwind facing U.S. manufacturers,” according to William A. Strauss, senior economist and economic advisor to the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago.
U.S. manufacturers increased their cutting tool consumption to $156.48 million during December 2015, up 1.4% from November, but down 15.4% versus the December 2014 consumption total. The new data pushed total 2015 cutting tool consumption to $2.135 billion, down 5.0% compared to the 12-month total for 2014.
Cutting tool consumption is an indicator of manufacturing activity, because cutting tools are “the primary consumable (product) in the manufacturing process,” according to the U.S. Cutting Tool Institute (USCTI) and AMT - the Association for Manufacturing Technology, who present the monthly Cutting Tool Market Report (CTMR).
Data in the CTMR is based on actual totals reported by participating companies, and represents the majority of the U.S. market for cutting tools.
The CTMR differs from the AMT’s monthly U.S. Manufacturing Technology Orders (USMTO) report, which is an indicator of manufacturers’ future activity as expressed by their capital investment plans. Recently, the USMTO showed orders for new machine tools also improved from November to December, but the full-year total for new orders was down 17.4% compared to 2014.
