April U.S. cutting tool consumption totaled $173.6 million, according to the U.S. Cutting Tool Institute and AMT – the Association for Manufacturing Technology. This total, as reported by companies participating in the Cutting Tool Market Report collaboration, was down 5.7 percent from March’s total and down 15 percent from April 2015.

With a year-to-date total of $689.8 million, 2016 was down 10.3 percent when compared with 2015.

These numbers and all data in this report are based on the totals actually reported by the companies participating in the CTMR program. The totals here represent the majority of the U.S. market for cutting tools.

"The cutting tool numbers continue to be negative in scenarios – month over month, year over year and year to date,” says Steve Stokey, president of USCTI. “While there is not much good news on the horizon as we head into the typically soft summer months of the business cycle, there is some optimism with the PMI moving over 50, but there is definitely a sense of caution as we move into the next 90 days.”