Cutting tool shipments up 29% from a year ago
Shipments of cutting tools totaled $278.1 million in July, a 2.8% increase from June and 29% higher than July 2025, according to the latest Cutting Tool Market Report, a collaboration between AMT – The Association For Manufacturing Technology and the U.S. Cutting Tool Institute (USCTI).
Year-to-date shipments totaled $1.75 billion, up 20.7% from the same period in 2025. Unit shipments in July remained steady from the previous month.
“Consumption continues at a high level as most shops work on their backlog and incoming orders,” said Jack Burley, chairman of AMT’s Cutting Tool Product Group and president of Big Daishowa, a cutting tool manufacturer. “The carbide crisis has, however, increased user costs by double digits, most notably for the larger tools. Given the increased demand and higher costs, July saw the highest monthly total ever, beating the previous record set in June 2026. And until the market cools down, this trend will continue for the remainder of 2026 and into 2027. With IMTS opening next week, I expect there will be a lot of interest in finding alternative solutions to solid carbide cutting tools, such as replaceable carbide heads to reduce companies’ spending.”
Michelle Kocses, senior economist at ITR Economics, said, “Cutting tool shipment growth is robust – but it is occurring amid an inflationary environment. Growth in the manufacturing sector supports demand, but that growth is unevenly distributed. Legacy markets, such as automotive, are stagnant, while the high-tech and defense industries are booming. The inventory cycle in the durable goods space is likely to wind down in 2027, and consumer markets will be muted by weak real incomes and elevated borrowing costs.”
The Cutting Tool Market Report provides a monthly statement on U.S. manufacturers’ consumption of the primary consumable in the manufacturing process, the cutting tool. Cutting tool consumption is a leading indicator of both upturns and downturns in U.S. manufacturing activity, as it is a true measure of actual production levels.
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