Shipments of cutting tools, measured by the Cutting Tool Market Report, a collaboration between AMT – The Association For Manufacturing Technology and the U.S. Cutting Tool Institute (USCTI), totaled $220.7 million in January 2026. Orders increased 2.7% from December 2025 and were up 9.9% from January 2025. While the dollar value of shipments increased in January, the number of units shipped decreased slightly from December.

“Activity, usage, and new projects all indicate that the latest trend is very positive,” said Jack Burley, chairman of AMT’s Cutting Tool Product Group and president of Big Daishowa, a cutting tool manufacturer. “Overall, this year is off to a good start, with no indications of a slowdown. However, the cost of tungsten carbide raw materials continues to increase, challenging cutting tool manufacturers to stay competitive.”

Bret Tayne, president of Everede Tool Company, a cutting tool manufacturer, said, “The data on cutting tool shipments shows indications of continued volatility. Cutting tool shipments increased 2.7% from December 2025 to January 2026, which was the slowest growth between December and January since 2022. Recent events have raised economic uncertainty, complicating efforts to project levels of overall industrial production.”

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.