Cutting Tool Orders Continue to Rise

U.S. machine shops and other manufacturers ordered $250.1 million worth of cutting tools during October, providing another encouraging data point for industrial activity. The October result is 12.7% higher than the September figure, and 14.7% higher than the October 2024 total.

Orders of cutting tools serve as an effective index to overall manufacturing activity, as those products are critical consumables across major industries like automotive, aerospace, construction, defense, energy, and numerous other sectors. Machine shops and other operations order cutting tools according to their current and anticipated manufacturing requirements.

Through 10 months of activity, 2025 cutting tool shipments total $2.13 billion - and the 0.6% improvement this marks over January-October 2024 is this year’s first positive trend over last year.

“The latest three-month trend is looking more promising, but our industry is still flat to down over the past year,” stated Mike Stokey, president of the U.S. Cutting Tool Institute. “I believe our industry is cautiously optimistic that 2026 will be slightly better than 2025. Obviously, that could change quickly based on any changes to economic policies.”

The data is drawn from the latest Cutting Tool Market Report, a monthly summary of cutting-tool shipments maintained by USCTI and AMT - the Assn. for Manufacturing Technology.

“The very strong October 2025 results are likely the result of several one-time factors driving demand rather than a new baseline,” cautioned Costikyan Jarvis, president of Jarvis Cutting Tools. “However, the overall picture continues to show a slow rise in industrial output, with the promise of more growth in 2026.

Jarvis added: “The year-to-date 2025 data versus 2024 data show a strengthening trend consistent with other economic indicators. This suggests that industrial manufacturing is looking at a much better 2026 than 2025.”