February 2025 U.S. cutting tool consumption was $198.6 million, according to the U.S. Cutting Tool Institute (USCTI) and AMT – The Association for Manufacturing Technology.
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This total, as reported by companies participating in the Cutting Tool Market Report collaboration, was down 0.7% from January and down 9.2% from February 2024.
With a year-to-date total of $398.4 million, 2025 is down 6.7% from the same period in 2024.
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.
“Orders for cutting tools in the United States continue to lag behind the numbers posted in 2024. Significant declines in year-over-year totals suggest a lack of confidence in current markets. While we have gained some clarity in our country’s leadership, the policies – specifically the full impact of imposed tariffs – cannot yet be gauged. I believe any optimism we may have had entering 2025 will be delayed until we learn more about the tariffs and their effects on the major markets we serve,” said Steve Boyer, president of USCTI.
“The calendar year has not kicked off well, considering the reported numbers through February, and we expect March numbers to reflect a further decline, as the tariff war has dented the confidence of manufacturing businesses around the world. The United States started this year by recovering manufacturing activity in January and February, which typically would have required the fulfillment of the supply chain pipeline. Instead, tariff speculation has caused the opposite effect, where demand is suffering due to economic uncertainty,” said Tom Haag, president of Kyocera SGS Precision Tool.
The Cutting Tool Market Report 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.
