U.S. casting sales are forecast to grow in almost all metals, topping $37 billion in 2016.  

An MCDP Staff Report

(Click here to see the story as it appears in January/February 2014's Metal Casting Design & Purchasing.)

The U.S. metalcasting industry’s sales have recovered from the dramatic recession that began at the end of 2008 and continued through the first part of 2010. After shipping $31.5 billion in castings in 2007, the industry bottomed out at $21.6 billion in shipments in 2009 at the depth of the recession. The industry began to rebound in 2010 with an estimated growth of 18% from the previous year to $25.46 billion, and this continued in 2011, reaching $29.64 billion in sales. The recovery is expected to continue through 2015 when sales will reach $37.5 billion, according to the 2014 Metalcasting Forecast and Trends Report published by the American Foundry Society, Schaumburg, Ill.

All cast metals are expected to see sales growth in the short term as customer demand continues to improve. Ductile iron, aluminum, compacted graphite iron and copper-based alloys see the greatest opportunities for long-term growth. While ductile iron growth is expected across all end markets, it is led by the oil and gas, automotive, construction, and pump and compressor markets. Steel growth will be led by the oil and gas, turbine, material handling, and pump and compressor markets. The return of the automotive and transportation markets should bring about long-term growth to aluminum and magnesium castings. For copper-based alloys, the valve, pump and compressor, and construction markets are keys to growth.

The U.S. metalcasting industry is made up of 1,978 facilities, down from 2,170 five years ago. This reduction can be attributed to the recession, technological advancements, foreign competition and tightening regulations.

The U.S. also saw changes in capacity availability and utilization over the past five years. Utilization was at 77% in 2007, and it dropped to 51% in 2009. That number jumped back up to 75% in 2011 and hit 82% in 2012. The current total available capacity has dropped from 16.8 million tons in 2007 to 16.4 million today. But metalcasters have rebuilt capacity lost during the recession years. 

The U.S. is second in the world in casting shipments based on tonnage, following China and ahead of India. Based on the data secured through the “47th Census of World Casting Production” by Modern Casting magazine, China shipped 42.5 million metric tons of castings in 2012, with India in third at 9.34 million metric tons. Following the U.S. and India are Japan (5.34 million metric tons), Germany (5.21), Russia (4.3), Brazil (2.86), Korea (2.44), Italy (1.96) and France (1.8).

In this report are tables depicting the breakdown of U.S. casting shipments by metal and end-use market with a forecast to 2022. This data is an estimated forecast based on an economic modeling tool and should be used only as an estimate. AFS cannot be held liable for its accuracy.  ■