January U.S. cutting tool consumption was $158 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 14.5 percent from December, but down 10.6 percent from January 2013.

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

“As the CTMR enters the second calendar year of publication, the last four months have been marked by volatility,” said Brad Lawton, chairman of AMT’s Cutting Tool Product Group. “While it is difficult to draw a clear conclusion from just a few years of data, the pattern so far in this series suggests we might see smaller swings each month later in 2014.”