Although China’s foundry industry has achieved rapid development in recent years, there are still many problems.
First, the degree of specialization is not high and the production scale is small. The average annual production of each plant in China is 815t, which is far lower than 4606t in the United States and 4878t in Japan.
Second, the technical content and added value are slightly low. The proportion of high-precision and high-performance castings in China is about 10 percentage points lower than that in Japan.
Third, the combination of industry, University and research is not close enough, and the foundation of casting technology is weak.
Fourth, the management level is not high. Although some enterprises have introduced foreign advanced equipment and technology, they are unable to produce high-quality castings. The reason is that the management level is low.
Fifth, material loss and energy consumption are high, and pollution is serious. By comparing the coal consumption of 1t castings produced by China, Japan and the United States, it can be seen that the energy consumption of cast iron castings in China is 40% ~ 90% higher than that in the United States and Japan. The investment of materials and energy in China’s foundry production accounts for about 55% ~ 70% of the output value. The emission of three wastes per ton of qualified castings in Japan is less than 1 / 3 of that in China. Japan’s investment in environmental protection accounts for 20% ~ 30% of the total equipment investment, while China only accounts for 3% ~ 18%.
Sixth, the R & D investment is low and the enterprise technology independent innovation system has not been formed. Most foundry enterprises have weak technological development capacity. Few large and medium-sized foundry enterprises have R & D institutions and R & D activities, accounting for only about 30%. 50% of the central state-owned enterprises’ R & D investment is less than 2% of their business income, compared with 5% in the world.