The value of August U.S. cutting tool shipments totaled $278.6 million, according to the latest Cutting Tool Market Report (CTMR) published Oct. 21 by the U.S. Cutting Tool Institute and the Association for Manufacturing Technology (AMT).

Following monthly gains of 2.8% in July and 12.8% in June, the August figure was down 0.8% month-over-month but was up 32.2% year-over-year. Year-to-date shipments through August totaled $2.03 billion — up 22.4% from a year earlier.

The report noted that unit shipment volumes in August remained stready with little movement in the past three months.

“Much of this growth is due to skyrocketing raw material costs, which have caused inflation in the industry. Even without inflation, we are still experiencing significant growth, and this appears to be driven by the U.S. economy,” said Mike Stokey, President of USCTI and Executive Vice President and Owner of cutting tool manufacturer Allied Machine & Engineering. “Although APT pricing has stabilized for the moment, supply continues to be a concern. The leadership team of USCTI plans to remain active in Washington, D.C., indefinitely, and we will continue to work with the administration on raw material tariffs, which impact our ability to compete in a global market. We continue to be optimistic as we move forward.”

The report detailed that cutting tool shipments have increased 20.4% since July 2025, and that during the last expansion of cutting tool demand that began in March 2021, shipments continued to accelerate for 27 months after orders of new machinery went into contraction. It added that iinvestment in new metalworking machinery is two years into a still-accelerating expansion.

Other stats cited by the August CTMR:

• The average number of new metalworking machines ordered each month has increased 16% since July 2025, which signals a strong base of underlying demand for cutting tools by growing the total stock of machinery that requires tooling.
• Factoring out price increases, year-to-date shipments through August were up 12.5% vs. a year earlier.

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.

The graph below includes the 12-month moving average for the durable goods shipments and cutting tool orders. These values are calculated by taking the average of the most recent 12 months and plotting them over time.