January 2025 US cutting tool orders increased 9.2% from December

Shipments of cutting tools, measured by the Cutting Tool Market Report compiled in a collaboration between AMT – The Association For Manufacturing Technology and the U.S. Cutting Tool Institute (USCTI), totaled $199.9 million in January 2025. Orders increased 9.2% from December 2024 but were down 4.1% from January 2024.

"January was quite soft for most tooling companies, even more so than normal. New investments are on hold, and most shops are only buying what they need to keep spindles turning," says Jack Burley, chairman of AMT's Cutting Tool Product Group. "Until the political conditions settle and the uncertainty they create for manufacturing is resolved, I expect to see very little improvement in consumption, especially for small businesses. There are different opinions on the speed at which we can bring more manufacturing back to the United States, so we can only wait and see how companies respond."

Eli Lustgarten, president at ESL Consultants, says: "Demand continues to suffer from economic uncertainty both here and abroad as well as from the changing political environment, especially with rising tariffs and the impact on supply chains and costs. Most major industrial end markets have become cautious: Heavy manufacturing sectors, including farm, construction, and mining equipment manufacturers, are undergoing substantial inventory liquidation in the first half of 2025. Signs point to a sluggish, if not volatile, first half of 2025. If political conditions and tariffs stabilize, end-market demand may begin to improve in the second half of the year and into 2026 as production increases and inventory liquidation ends."

The Cutting Tool Market Report is jointly compiled by AMT and USCTI, two trade associations representing the development, production, and distribution of cutting tool technology and products. It provides a monthly statement on U.S. manufacturers' consumption of the primary consumable in the manufacturing process, the cutting tool. Analysis of 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.