November U.S. cutting tool consumption totaled $168.7 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 9.3 percent compared with November 2015 and down 0.2 percent from October.

With a year-to-date total of $1.9 billion, 2016 is down 5.7 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.

“Since the November elections, the cutting tool industry has been following the economic indicators and the growing optimism for an improving manufacturing market,” says Brad Lawton, chairman of AMT’s cutting tool product group.“ The current monthly shipment numbers are not showing this increase, but we are anticipating improvements certainly by the end of the first quarter.”