Growth of Production of Metal Castings at the Beginning of the XXI Century and Forecasts for the Future

Processy litʹâ, 2019, Tom 135, №3, p.67-75.

Abstract

Receivеd 03.03.2019

UDK 669.015/339.5

Foundry production of the world since the beginning of the XXI century is characterized by an increasing trend. Despite the economic crisis, the production of castings in the world from 2000 to 2017 increased 1.7 times. The leader of the world foundry industry continues to be China, whose share exceeds 40 %. Trends in the development of the foundry industry by country indicate uneven rates of change in their production. Leading countries are increasing their foundry production, while countries in the lower part of the rankings are seeking to stabilize production. In 2013-2017 the rate of production of castings from alloys of non-ferrous metals significantly exceeds that of castings from ferrous metals. Predictive AFS analytics for the period up to 2027 relative to the US foundry industry indicates a rapid production rate of castings from aluminum, magnesium alloys and steel for lost wax (investment) casting. The increase in the rate of production of castings from non-ferrous metals and the stabilization or small decrease in the production of castings from ferrous metals is due to the growing demand for energy saving in the global economy. For the period 2013-2017 production of castings in the world from alloys of non-ferrous metals increased by 20.7 %, and castings from ferrous metals - by 3.0 %; at the same time, if the share of aluminum alloys increased from 14.9 to 17.4 %, then the share of gray iron fell from 46.3 to 44.7%, and steel from 10.8 to 10.3 %. The process of expanding the use of aluminum alloy products in consuming sectors of the global economy confirms the trend of reducing the weight of vehicles, for example, some iron foundries in the automotive industry began to convert to the production of castings from lighter aluminum and magnesium alloys. Presumably, in 2019 and 2020 world production of non-ferrous metal castings will grow by about one million tons per year.