US: November US cutting tool consumption totaled US$156.9 million, according to the US Cutting Tool Institute (USCTI) and AMT (The Association For Manufacturing Technology). This total was down 18.9 percent from October’s total and up 0.4 percent from November 2013. 

“Although this month registered the lowest volume of cutting tool shipments we’ve seen since 2013, this 18.9 percent decrease is in part due to the record breaking sales we had in October,” said Brad Lawton, chairman of AMT’s Cutting Tool Product Group. “Year-to-date shipments are on par with 2013. As manufacturers’ backlogs continue to grow, we expect shipments to rebound before the end of the year.”

Over at the manufacturing technology segment, AMT said the number was down 15.5 percent from October and down 14.5 percent when compared with the total of US$442.01 million reported for November 2013. 

“Despite a downward monthly trend in manufacturing technology orders, we remain bullish on the US industry market overall, with robust factory production and strong performance in the automotive sector,” said Douglas K Woods, AMT President. 

“Many manufacturers took a ‘pause’ in November to assess the challenges from the previous few months, such as contraction in China, Europe and Russia, less activity from the oil and gas industry due to the dramatic drop in prices and perhaps a little bit of the ‘IMTS Effect’ pulling some sales forward. Overall, however, we anticipate 2015 to be another year of positive growth, with manufacturing leading the US economy.”