2015 U.S. cutting tool consumption totaled $2.1 billion, 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 percent from 2014.
December U.S. cutting tool consumption totaled $156.5 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 up 1.4 percent from November’s total and down 15.4 percent from December 2014.
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 December 2014 to December 2015 decrease of 15.4 percent is most reflective of the current environment in the cutting tool industry,” said Steve Stokey, president of USCTI. “We started 2015 strong with a significant decline during the second half of the year. The drop in oil prices, which softened the market, along with the strengthening dollar caused a dramatic decrease in demand in the last half of 2015.”
Overall, manufacturing in general has had some challenges. According to William A. Strauss, Senior Economist and Economic Advisor to the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, “The strengthening dollar has been a very strong headwind facing U.S. manufacturers. The real value of the trade-weighted dollar has increased nearly 20% in the past year and a half. This has caused U.S. goods to be 20% more expensive on average to foreign consumers, and vice versa, imports are now 20% less expensive to U.S. consumers. This has led to a substantial increase in the trade deficit over the same time period.”
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