According to the US Cutting Tool Institute (USCTI) (
www.uscti.com) and AMT (the Association For Manufacturing Technology), cutting-tool consumption in the USA totalled $183.61 million in January. This total was up 4.9% from December’s $175.00 million — and up 6.1% compared with the $173.05 million reported for January 2017.
Brad Lawton, chairman of AMT’s Cutting Tool Product Group (
www.AMTonline.org), said: “The boom in domestic and global manufacturing has continued to show positive growth for the cutting-tool industry.
"This is causing increasing pressure on cutting-tool capacity and raw-material sourcing, but these are good problems and they are welcomed by the industry.”
Eli Lustgarten, president of ESL Consultants, said: “These figures support our belief that the industrial sector will continue to strengthen, as the year progresses.
"The US February ISM — Institute for Supply Management — Manufacturing Index rose to 60.8, compared to 59.1 in January and 59.3 in December 2017. This was the best level since 2004 and the third-highest since 1985.
“New orders and production remain at very strong levels, building a backlog and pointing towards rising industrial production and higher capacity utilisation, as the year progresses.
“With an improving global backdrop, the cutting-tool sector is headed towards another ‘banner year’, with sales gains approaching — if not exceeding — 10%.”