June U.S. cutting tool consumption totaled $186.57 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 down 2.8 percent from May’s $191.93 million and up 6.0 percent when compared with the total of $175.97 million reported for June 2016.

With a year-to-date total of $1.095 billion, 2017 is up 5.8 percent when compared with 2016.

 “2017 continues to be a much stronger year for cutting tools than 2016,” says Steve Stokey, president of USCTI. “High consumer confidence is a strong indicator that cutting tools sales will continue to improve through the second half of the year.”