January U.S. cutting tool consumption was $181.9 million, according to the U.S. Cutting Tool Institute and the Association for Manufacturing Technology. This total, as reported by companies participating in the Cutting Tool Market Report collaboration, was up 1.9 percent from January 2014 and down 1.7 percent from December.

The totals represent about 80 percent of the U.S. market for cutting tools.

“The industrial production index for manufacturing typically leads cutting tool production by one or two months. January’s 1.7 percent decrease in shipments mirrors December’s decline in industrial production,” said Pat McGibbon, vice president of AMT’s strategic analytics department. “The short lived fall reflected by January’s increase in industrial production leaves us optimistic to see positive cutting tool shipment growth in February and March.”