According to the U.S. Cutting Tool Institute (USCTI) and The Association for Manufacturing Technology (AMT), December U.S. cutting tool consumption totaled $176.04 million. This total, as reported by companies participating in the Cutting Tool Market Report (CTMR) collaboration, was up 4.4% from November’s $168.69 million and up 12.5% when compared with the total of $156.49 million reported for December 2015. With a year-to-date total of $2.042 billion, 2016 is down 4.3% when compared with 2015. “The cutting tool market data continues to show signs of strengthening,” said Steve Stokey, president of USCTI. “There is a great deal of positive chatter in most manufacturing sectors that would indicate there are high expectations for 2017. This should drive higher demand for cutting tools.” Steve Kline, Jr., director of Market Intelligence at Gardner Business Media added to the positive forecast by stating, “Cutting tool orders improves the last five months of 2016. In three of the last five months, cutting tool orders increased compared with year prior levels. In fact, December increased 12%, which was the fastest rate of growth since December 2014. Gardner’s metalworking business index leads cutting tool orders by six to 12 months. The index has been improving for some time. In January, the index showed that the metalworking industry grew for the first time in nearly two years. Therefore, I expect cutting tool orders to increase in 2017.”