Data published by AMT shows that orders for machine tools in the first half of 2025 were +13.7% higher than in the same months of 2024. On the same basis, demand for cutting tools fell by -4.9%. Survey responses in this period valued machine tool orders at $2523 million, with the cutting tool business at $1230 million.
The US Manufacturing Technology Orders (USMTO) programme tracks orders in the US market, based on survey responses. Orders in June 2025 were higher than June orders in the previous three years. The 12-month rolling total – effectively an annualised figure – also improved and was at its highest since August 2023
Regionally, five areas had orders higher than in the first half of 2024; this growth was led by the West (+38%) and South-Central (+34%), with strong growth also recorded in the North-Central-East (+16%) and more modest growth in the South-East (+2%) and North-East (+1%), leaving the North-Central-West (-1%) as the only area in negative territory.
AMT’s machine tool orders forecast, developed in association with Oxford Economics, has been upgraded from a projected -7.2% decline to an expected +2.9% growth for 2025, with increased trade certainty and demand resilience forecast to build upon a strong first-half performance. You can read more about this update via the first link below.
The US Cutting Tool Market Report (CTMR) tracks shipments for tooling on a similar basis to the machine tool survey. This part of the market continues to trend downwards, with business declining by -4.9% compared to the first half of 2024.
The period covered by the latest CTMR report was characterised by tariff uncertainty, with demand stagnating due to increased raw material costs and talent shortages continuing to be a challenge.
You can download the press releases for the two surveys from the AMT web-site at https://www.amtonline.org/topic/intelligence, with the CTMR release also published on the USCTI web-site at www.uscti.com (go to the News tab); alternatively, you can request either or both releases from MTA and we can make sure you get them when they are published each month. We have attached a set of charts tracking the rolling 12-month totals from these two surveys which you can download below.