DEALING WITH DISRUPTION

THE CUTTING TOOL PLAYERS ARE BRACING THEMSELVES FOR THE FUTURE THAT IS LIKELY TO INCLUDE DEMANDING APPLICATIONS.

- SWATI DESHPANDE

THE CUTTING TOOLS INDUSTRY LARGELY depends on the automotive sector and hence was hit by tough market conditions last year. Speaking about the market situation, Gautam K. Ahuja, managing director, Dormer Pramet India said, “The demand for cutting tools was quite low in India last year, with GDP growth expected to be around 5% in 2019-20. The automotive industry declined to a historic low of -14% in 2019, which was much worse than the global recession of 2008. Even sectors like oil & gas and textile machinery have taken a big hit. Thus, drilling & boring have not been any different and followed the same path of decline in 2019. However, it seems that we have bottomed out and the demand in early 2020 is slightly better than the second half of 2019. The GDP is expected to be around 5.8% in 202021, which is a little better than the current fiscal year. Dormer Pramet India has started 2020 on a positive note and we expect to continue the momentum.”

Giving overview of the market from his point of view, L. Krishnan, managing director, TaeguTec India says, “The demand for cutting tools is largely correlated with that in the automotive and auto components industry, and this applies for specific manufacturing applications of drilling and boring too. However, there are some pockets like the oil & gas and heavy engineering sectors, which require significant drilling & boring all year long. These sectors are doing reasonably well. Of course, once the auto sector recovers, we expect demand to improve as well.”

Seconding the same,