In 2013, global production increased to more than 103 million metric tons, an increase of 3.4% when compared to the previous year, according to this year’s MODERN CASTING Census of World Casting Production. The 103.2 million metric tons of metal castings produced in 2013 represents an increase of 3.43 million tons. This rate of growth is a slight bump up from 2012’s 2.4% boost.
Of the 31 countries that provided data for the past two years, 18 reported a contraction in annual volumes when comparing 2013 to 2012. Poland increased its production by 18%, with gains across the board in terms of alloys. On the red side of the ledger, Pakistan saw the largest decline in production, with its metalcasting industry contracting by 23.2%. Among the top-10 countries in total output, Brazil had the highest boost in 2013 with an increase of 6.9% in production. The rebound came a year after South America’s only entry in the global survey saw a 16.9% decrease in total production.
China increased its total production by two million metric tons to a total of 44.5 million. That boost represents a large majority of the overall increase in global production, meaning China continued to increase its share of the global market. Meanwhile, the U.S., the world’s second largest producer, saw its tonnage increase by 3.9% to 12.25 million metric tons. While the top two producing nations saw increases, other top metalcasting countries had production headed south in 2013. France, Germany and Russia reported 3% to 5% decreases.
India remained No. 3 in total production at 9.81 million tons. Spots 4 through 10 remained unchanged, with Japan producing 5.54 million metric tons, Germany 5.19 million, Russia 4.1 million, Brazil 3.07 million, Korea 2.56 million, Italy 1.97 million and France 1.75 million. The top-10 nations produced 88% of the world’s castings, a figure that remains unchanged from 2012.
The U.S. saw a 4.4% increase in its productivity per site, with its 2,001 metalcasting facilities averaging 6,122 metric tons. Germany, the world leader in per plant production at 8,659, experienced a negligible increase of 41 metric tons per plant.
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