According to the data, the total output of various castings in China in 2017 was 49.4 million tons, an increase of 4.7% over 2016. From 2002 to 2017, except for a 1.3% decline in 2015, China’s casting output has always maintained a positive growth. Since 2011, the growth rate has changed from high-speed growth to medium and low-speed growth.
In terms of the output of castings of different materials, the output of gray cast iron was 20.35 million tons in 2016 and 21.15 million tons in 2017, an increase of 3.9%; Nodular cast iron (including vermicular cast iron) increased from 13.2 million tons to 13.75 million tons, an increase of 4.2%; Driven by rail transit, mining, metallurgy, heavy machinery, construction machinery and other industries, the output of steel castings increased rapidly, reaching 8.8%; Due to the demand for “lightweight”, aluminum (magnesium) alloy castings increased by 5.8%, reaching 7.3 million tons in 2017; Malleable cast iron, copper alloy and other castings have little change.
In terms of the proportion of castings of various materials, in 2017, the output of steel castings resumed growth, accounting for 11.3% (10.8% in 2016; 11.2% in 2015), the output of aluminum (magnesium) alloy castings increased to 14.8% (14.6% in 2016; 13.4% in 2015), and the proportion of nodular iron castings was 27.8%, slightly corrected (28.0% in 2016; 27.6% in 2015).
From the perspective of the changes in the demand structure of castings in downstream industries, automobile, construction machinery and rail transit had a great pull on casting in 2017, with an increase of 7.1%, 15.2% and 14.3% respectively; Among them, the automobile industry directly drives the increase of casting output of 1 million tons; Internal combustion engines and agricultural machinery increased by 0.8%; The pulling force of mining and metallurgical heavy machinery increased by 2.3%.
In 2017, the demand proportion of various castings in the downstream industry was: the proportion of automobile castings increased to 30.6% (29.9% in 2016), especially the output of trucks increased significantly. We should pay attention to the changes of automobile output and structure.
According to the statistics of import and export commodities listed as cast products by China Customs, there are 13 tariff codes in total, all of which are ferrous metal casting products. According to the customs statistics, the export tonnage of castings decreased and the “delivery value” increased. The exchange rate change between RMB and US dollar in 2017 should be taken into account; The “delivery value” of castings imported is 5 times that of exports, which indicates that most of our imported castings are “high-end Castings”. It is worth noting that other castings imported and exported with parts and assembled products cannot be accurately separated from customs import and export commodities; In particular, nonferrous metal castings are imported and exported with the above commodities, so the actual export volume of castings should be much higher than this data.