May cutting tool consumption climbs 24.6 percent
May 2021 U.S. cutting tool consumption totaled $160.7 million, up 24.6 percent when compared with $129 million reported for May 2020.
The total was down 5.5 percent from April's $170 million, according to the U.S. Cutting Tool Institute (USCTI) and AMT – The Association For Manufacturing Technology. With a year-to-date total of $802.6 million, 2021 is down 1.5 percent compared to May 2020.
“The cutting tool industry hope, not strategy, in March was that sales volume would continue to move toward pre-pandemic values. Industry sales slowed month over month in May because of supply chain issues after sales were up in March significantly due to quarterly restocking by distributors. Despite these conditions, the cutting tool industry remains poised to respond to U.S. manufacturing customers,” said Brad Lawton, chairman of AMT’s Cutting Tool Product Group.
Alan Richter, editor-at-large of Cutting Tool Engineering, commented, “The cutting tool industry is not out of the woods yet. The U.S. consumption of cutting tools for May 2021, which was the fourth-highest total since April 2020 and up 24.6% year to year, shows the industry is nearing pre-pandemic levels. Part manufacturers continue to confront the seemingly never-ending skills gap, but companies are overcoming that challenge with intelligent integration of automation equipment.”
INDUSTRIAL SUPPLY MAGAZINE
The March/April issue of Industrial Supply magazine features an in-depth cover story about Joyce Lansdale and Vallen. Plus, we're featuring articles by contributing writers Dirk Beveridge, Frank Hurtte, and David Kahle, as well as interviews with numerous product and distribution industry experts.
