According to the Cutting Tool Management Report (CTMR) for May 2021 from the Association For Manufacturing Technology (AMT), real cutting tool orders were $160.7 million, an increase of 20.4% compared with one year ago. May was the second consecutive month with a more than 20% increase compared with one year ago. Of course, April and May had easy comparisons with last year because of the economic lockdowns. Both April and May were still more than 10% below the average month since the beginning of 2012. The annual rate of change in May, -18.9%, contracted at a decelerating rate for the third month in a row.

The GBI: Metalworking is a good leading indicator of cutting tool orders and leads cutting tool orders by seven to 10 months. In June, the index was above 50 for the ninth month in a row and the month-over-month rate of change in the index grew for the 11^th consecutive month. The annual rate of change grew at an accelerating rate for the fourth consecutive month, indicating that the annual rate of contraction in cutting tool orders will continue to decelerate throughout 2021 as cutting tool orders continue to improve on a month-by-month basis.