April cutting tools up 21% YoY
Shipments of cutting tools totaled $258.9 million in April, a slight decrease of 0.1% from March but a significant leap of 21.1% from April 2025, according to the latest Cutting Tool Market Report from AMT and the U.S. Cutting Tool Institute (USCTI).
Year-to-date shipments totaled $964 million, up 17.2% from the same period in 2025. Unit shipments decreased slightly in April after rising the previous two months.
“While shipments are up in the early months of 2026, much of the increase is due to inflation rather than increased units,” said Mike Stokey, president of USCTI and executive vice president and owner of cutting tool manufacturer Allied Machine & Engineering. “Raw material pricing and supply continue to be challenges for cutting tool manufacturers. These are unprecedented times, but I am cautiously optimistic.”
Alan Richter, editor-at-large of the industry publication Cutting Tool Engineering, said, “Increased shipments are partially the result of robust metal cutting activity across multiple industries, but the cost of raw materials to produce cutting tools has surged over the past year or so, driving up costs and inflating shipment values. In one instance, an aerospace manufacturer reported the cost of carbide tools has risen 30% to 50% over the previous three months.”
INDUSTRIAL SUPPLY MAGAZINE
The May/June issue of Industrial Supply magazine features an in-depth cover story about GHX Industrial. Plus, we're featuring articles by contributing writers Dr. Bharani Nagarathnam and Frank Hurtte, as well as interviews with numerous product and distribution industry experts.
